An image from The Satanic Temple. | Facebook/The Satanic Temple The Satanic Temple launched its Religious Reproductive Rights campaign Wednesday, declaring abortion as a sacred "religious ritual" in an effort to circumvent state regulations on abortion by exerting their members’ religious freedom protections. In a video posted on YouTube as part of its campaign, the Satanic Temple, which is now recognized by the IRS as a religious organization, explains how it plans to use state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts in their favor so women seeking abortions can forego counseling, avoid seeing the sonogram image of their baby or hearing its heartbeat, and refuse to have their baby’s remains cremate or buried. The video begins by stating that the U.S. Religious Freedom Restoration Act “generally prohibits the government from interfering with a person’s free exercise of religion,” including “the performance of religious rituals.” The Satanic Temple proclaims that its religious rituals include abortion, which it says “provides spiritual comfort and affirms bodily autonomy and self-worth.” “Within the states that have enacted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, religiously performed abortions are exempt from legal requirements that are not medically necessary,” The Satanic Temple contends in the video. The group added that […]
