Image via YouTube, Screen capture A 2018 lawsuit brought by a member of The Satanic Temple (TST) against a Missouri abortion law spurred a debate about religious liberty and abortion rights. Judy Doe, the name given to the plaintiff in the suit, claimed that the state of Missouri’s law requiring that a woman seeking an abortion receive a pamphlet informing her that human life began at conception violated Doe’s religious beliefs as a member of the temple. TST, as a recognized religious organization, can file lawsuits citing religious discrimination. And one of its members, Doe, did indeed file a lawsuit against a particular abortion law in Missouri. But the suit was dismissed in June 2020. This is not the first time the group or its members have filed similar cases on religious-liberty grounds. Doe’s lawsuit, filed in February 2018, focused on a state law that required a woman seeking an abortion to receive an “informed consent” booklet. The booklet, in accordance with the law, says: “The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being.” In the court document, Doe argued that such a statement violated her beliefs […]
