Earlier this week, The Satanic Temple filed suit in an Indiana federal district court challenging on somewhat novel grounds Indiana's recently enacted restrictive abortion ban. The complaint (full text) in The Satanic Temple v. Holcomb, (SD IN, filed 9/21/2022) not only alleges that the ban violates Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act because it outlaws the Satanic Abortion Ritual, but also alleges other constitutional defects. It contends in part:
59. The property right of an Involuntarily Pregnant Woman to exclude or remove a Protected Unborn Child from her uterus cannot be taken by the State of Indiana without just compensation pursuant to the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
60. The property right to exclude or remove a Protected Unborn Child from a woman’s uterus has substantial commercial value as established by over twenty-five years of experience with gestational surrogacy in Indiana.
It alleges a 13th Amendment violation, contending:
68. The Indiana Abortion Ban causes each Involuntarily Pregnant Woman to provide the services necessary to sustain the life of a Protected Unborn Child that occupies and uses her uterus.
The suit also alleges unconstitutional discrimination between women who become pregnant by accident and those who become pregnant by rape or incest, as well as unconstitutional discrimination between women who become pregnant by accident and those who become pregnant by in vitro fertilization. Courthouse News Service reports briefly on the lawsuit.
