The Satanic Temple Uses Hobby Lobby Case to Sidestep Informed Consent Abortion Laws
The Satanic Temple has issued a new statement regarding the Supreme Court's ruling on the Hobby Lobby case, which allows employers to refuse to cover certain forms of birth control for employees. The Satanic Temple wants to use that ruling in order to exempt its female members from anti-abortion laws.
"While we feel we have a strong case for the exemption regardless of the Hobby Lobby ruling, the Supreme Court has decided that religious beliefs are so sacrosanct that they can even trump scientific fact," spokesperson Lucien Greaves said in a press release. "This was made clear when they allowed Hobby Lobby to claim certain contraceptives were abortifacients, which in fact, they are not."
The Satanic Temple based its case on the belief of "the best scientific understanding of the world, regardless of the religious or political beliefs of others."
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The group has even put together a letter that women can print and show their doctor in order to be excused from the informed consent mandates imposed by certain states. Informed consent laws are present in 35 states, and The Satanic Temple seeks to help women get around those laws and receive the procedure they desire.
The letter argues that "as an adherent to the principles of the Satanic Temple, my sincerely held religious beliefs are: my body is inviolable and subject to my will alone; I make any decision regarding my health based on the best scientific understanding to the world, even if the science does not comport with the religious or political beliefs of others; my inviolable body includes any fetal or embryonic tissue I carry so long as that tissue is unable to survive outside my body as an independent human being; I, and I alone, decide whether my violable body remains pregnant and I may, in good conscience, disregard the current or future condition of any fetal or embryonic tissue I carry in making that decision."
"In the coming months, we will be initiating a number of other campaigns to assert our religious protection for women with health needs that are being complicated by unreasonable laws," the group said on its website.
Of course, there are plenty of objections to the letter and The Satanic Temple's belief. It remains to be seen whether healthcare providers will accept the letter or follow the law as ordered by the state.
