Monday, September 06, 2021

Satanic Temple Seeks RFRA Exemption From Texas Abortion Restrictions

In a press release last week, The Satanic Temple announced that it has sent a letter to the FDA arguing that its members should have unrestricted access to the medical abortion-inducing drug Mifepristone.  The move is an attempt to counter the new "heartbeat" abortion restrictions in Texas. As reported by KVUE News:

The Satanic Temple argues its members should have access to the pills under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the same law that allows Native Americans to access peyote for use in rituals. SB 8 “imposes an undue burden on the ability of TST members to undergo the Satanic Abortion Ritual” within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, the group said.

“I am sure Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – who famously spends a good deal of his time composing press releases about religious liberty issues in other states – will be proud to see that Texas’s robust religious liberty laws, which he so vociferously champions, will prevent future Abortion Rituals from being interrupted by superfluous government restrictions meant only to shame and harass those seeking an abortion,” Satanic Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves said in a statement.