Cosmopolitan defends abortion as satanic 'religious ritual,' calls satanism a 'nontheistic faith'
One of the world’s most widely read women’s magazines says satanism is a “religion” that practices the “religious ritual” of abortion.
Cosmopolitan, which boasts a print and digital audience of over 50 million readers, published a piece in its November/December issue about The Satanic Temple (TST) and its New Mexico-based telehealth abortion clinic that provides “abortion medication via mail to those in New Mexico who wish to perform The Satanic Temple's Religious Abortion Ritual.”
Samuel Alito's Mom's Satanic Abortion Clinic — yes, that is the official name of the clinic — is an apparent reference to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who delivered the ruling in June 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and provides abortion pills through the 11th week of pregnancy.
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There’s also a 24-hour hotline to reach “licensed medical personnel” which is reportedly staffed by TST members.
According to Cosmo writer Arielle Domb, the clinic draws “inspiration” from landmark court rulings “in favor of Christian business owners denying services to [LGBT] people purely on religious grounds.” It uses this rationale as a basis for providing its abortion services.
The article goes on to call TST a “faith-based group” and states that TST — and by extension, satanism, which is its core doctrine — “is a religion.”
“Unlike other abortion-pill-by-mail providers … TST is a religion,” Domb writes. “Meaning its patients, who don’t have to be Satanists themselves, are participating in a religious ritual.”
Not only is abortion a “religious ritual” akin to baptism or Communion but, according to the article, satanists “don’t actually worship the devil.”
“Never mind that Satanists don’t actually worship the devil. There are no ritual sacrifices or quests for supernatural powers at TST,” writes Domb. “In reality, Satanism is a nontheistic faith in which TST’s roughly 1.5 million global members view Satan more like a mascot, one depicted not as a dark, omniscient deity but as a literary character — a venerable symbol of rebellion, rational inquiry, personal sovereignty, and resistance against tyranny.”
In addition to satanism and abortion advocacy, the Cosmo article also includes animated graphics that substitute inverted crosses for the letter “t” in two separate quotes from the article.
There are also several more satanically-inspired images in the article, including an all-666 keypad with a pentagram in place of the “star” button, a devil horned-and-tailed iPhone cover, and a winking cartoonish devil character.
Cosmo shared an image on its Instagram page featuring a one-eyed woman reflected in a broken, triangular mirror shard with the headline, "So How Does A Satanic Abortion Ceremony Even Work?"
In a statement, TST called the Cosmopolitan article a “monumental moment” for the satanic group and specifically refers to the act of terminating the life of the unborn as “the abortion ritual.”
“Our feature in Cosmopolitan is a monumental moment in our ongoing battle to protect bodily autonomy,” the statement says. “The article brings national attention to our innovative approach to reproductive rights through our first telehealth abortion clinic, The Samuel Alito's Mom's Satanic Abortion Clinic, and highlights our legal arguments to protect our members' religious right to practice the abortion ritual.”
In response to the article, pro-life advocacy group Live Action released an op-ed condemning what it called “Cosmo’s celebration and normalization” of abortion.
“If anything is obvious based on Cosmo’s celebration and normalization of The Satanic Temple’s ritual abortions, it’s that this is our cue to take our children back to church, to stop focusing on self-empowerment, and to stop allowing the culture to raise our children,” Live Action’s Nancy Flanders wrote.
The article and ensuing promotion by TST appears to mark a shift in the satanic group’s push to promote its own abortion assistance services, including an online fundraiser that is asking for donations to provide “telehealth abortion services” in New Mexico as well as “support for those in need of travel assistance to New Mexico when possible.”
While TST continues efforts to push into other states, judges in Indiana and Texas dismissed lawsuits brought by TST earlier this year, which challenged the states’ abortion bans by claiming the law infringed on the religious rights of the group’s satanic members.
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post and the author of BACKWARDS DAD: a children's book for grownups. He can be reached at: [email protected].
