In a recent statement, the Satanic Temple said that it wants to use the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision to provide a religious exemption from state-mandated informed consent laws on abortion that require women to be given pro-life materials that are both "scientifically unfounded" and "medically unfounded."

Not to be confused with the Church of Satan, the Satanic Temple does not promote a belief in a "personal Satan" and Black Masses.  Instead, it "embraces rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions."  As such, it says that of the 35 states that have informed consent, or "right to know" laws covering abortions, most of them do so in a "bald effort at dissuading [women] from abortions."

Some states go so far as to create an unproven link between abortion and a higher incidence of breast and ovarian cancers, or talk about "post-abortion syndrome," a mental condition that is not recognized by any major medical or psychiatric organization.

One of the tenets of the Satanic Temple is "one's own body is inviolable, subject to one's own will alone," and another is "beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world.  We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs."  Therefore, information with no scientific backing violates its religious beliefs.

Spokesperson Lucien Greaves said that the Supreme Court's recent Hobby Lobby decision strengthens their position.  "While we feel we have a strong case for an exemption regardless of the Hobby Lobby ruling," he said," the Supreme Court has decided that religious beliefs are so sacrosanct that they can even trump scientific fact.  This was made clear when they allowed Hobby Lobby to claim certain contraceptives were abortifacients, which in fact they are not."

The organization provides a letter on their website for women to present to their health care provider saying that they believe that the abortion materials and counseling being presented are politically and not scientifically motivated, and thus violates their freedom of religion.

Part of the letter reads:

"I regard any information required by state statute to be communicated or offered to me as a precondition for an abortion (separate and apart from any other medical procedure) is based on politics and not science ("Political Information"). I regard Political Information as a state sanctioned attempt to discourage abortion by compelling my consideration of the current and future condition of my fetal or embryonic tissue separate and apart from my body. I do not regard Political Information to be scientifically true or accurate or even relevant to my medical decisions. The Communication of Political Information to me imposes an unwanted and substantial burden on my religious beliefs."

Lucien Greaves continues: "Because of the respect the Court has given to religious beliefs, and the fact that our beliefs are based on the best available knowledge, we expect that our belief in the illegitimacy of state-mandated 'informational' material is enough to exempt us, and those who hold our beliefs, from having to receive them."

Photo Credits: The Satanic Temple

 

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