Good morning everyone. Here is the latest episode of: You can’t make this up! The Satanic Temple, a religious organization, is taking legal action in the State of Texas to protect its members’ right to practice an abortion ritual through the use of abortion pills Misoprostol and Mifepriston. (Don’t those just sound like the names of two demons or familiars?)
As the Satanic Temple’s website explains:
”Consistent with our tenets that call for bodily autonomy and acting in accordance with best scientific evidence, The Satanic Temple religiously objects to many of the restrictions that states have enacted that interfere with abortion access. TST is taking many steps on behalf of our members and those who share our beliefs to establish exemptions from laws that do not promote the health and safety of patients and violate our conscience and beliefs.”
The Satanists are being hailed as “the last hope” for abortion rights in the state, and their legal strategy is being called “Devilishly clever.” The Satanists are invoking the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was passed to allow Native Americans access to peyote for religious rituals, but applies more generally to protect bona-fide religious practices from criminalization.
Here’s a nice little thought experiment! Under Texas’ recently-passed abortion ban, any Born-Again Christian in the state has the right to sue the Satanic Temple for “aiding and abetting” abortions taking place more than six weeks after the beginning of a woman’s last period. (That is, of course, assuming the state can find a plaintiff who isn’t overdosing on horse paste). Let’s just imagine how such a lawsuit would play out:
1. A legal action would be launched, Texan Christian v. Satanic Temple, [name of high priest] and [name of abortion-performing Jezebel].
2. As part of the evidence-gathering process in the lawsuit, the plaintiff would need to not only find a woman who performed a Satanic abortion ritual, but also determine when the woman had her last “regular flow of blood.” (Leviticus 15:19).
3. Once evidence of the Satanic ritual and the date of the “regular flow of blood” had been put before the court, the court would need to decide whether to apply a religious freedom exemption — long a favorite legal tool of the Christian Right — to dismiss the lawsuit.
Here’s another thought experiment: What if the Satanists win their legal battle, and a court rules that members of the Satanic Temple have a right to practice their abortion ritual? Does that then mean that millions of Texan women should become Satanists, so that they can freely practice their right to abortion? And if so, will the Christian Right have caused an epidemic of Satanism?
This is the new reality, people! Enjoy the rest of your day.
Update: Alright, now that this article has unexpectedly shot up on the trending list, I’m going to shamelessly plug another one I wrote recently (it’s for a very good cause): www.dailykos.com/...