The Satanic Temple and one of its members filed suit last month in a Texas federal district court challenging Texas' requirement that a woman have a sonogram prior to an abortion. The complaint (full text) in The Satanic Temple, Inc. v. Texas Department of State Health Services, (SD TX, filed 2/12/2021), alleges that the individual plaintiff wishes to engage in The Satanic Temple's Abortion Ritual, explaining:
46. TST developed the Satanic Abortion Ritual to help its membership cast off guilt, shame, and mental discomfort that the member may be experiencing in connection with their election to abort the pregnancy....
47. The Ritual also confirms the member’s choice and wards off effects of unjust persecution....
48. Here, the unjust persecution is an improper effort of the State (the “outside world”) to infringe on the decision-making of a member about her own health decision (the “inside world.”)...
102. Texas places barriers between Ms. Doe (and TST’s similarly situated members) and this religious speech and conduct by first requiring she undergo a medically unnecessary operation, requiring she reject the “opportunity” to see the results of the imaging, requiring she listen to the narrative of and results of the imaging, and requiring she wait.
Plaintiffs claim that the regulations violate their free exercise, substantive due process and equal protection rights. Christian Headlines reports on the lawsuit.
