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Satanic Temple Vows To Fight For Its Members' Abortion Rights If US Supreme Court Overturns 1973 Roe v. Wade Ruling
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Days after an draft majority opinion of the US Supreme Court, indicating the Court would strike down its landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v Wade case in favour of abortion rights, was published, the Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple has said that it will fight for abortion rights of its members.
The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious organisation that claims that its mission is to "encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice and undertake noble pursuits".
The US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade ruling would leave abortion legislation to individual states and make it harder for Americans to make decisions on behalf of the unborn child.
In 1973, the US Supreme Court in a landmark decision in Roe v. Wade case ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.
The Satanic Temple (TST) said that its adherents should be permitted religious exceptions to perform religious abortion rituals in states that have put up barriers to the medical procedure.
"In states that outlaw abortion but grant exceptions for instances of incest and rape," TST said in a statement, adding that its members "should be permitted a religious exception to perform TST’s religious abortion ritual."
"We will likely have to sue those states to affirm our civil rights," it added.
Further, the organisation said that it has a "number of plans" to tackle the abortion issue in states that outlaw abortions and do not grant exceptions.
"States that outlaw abortion and do not grant exceptions present more significant challenges, but TST has a number of plans that we will be undertaking quite soon," TST said.
"First, we will be suing the FDA to permit TST access to Mifepristone and Misoprostol for use under medical supervision as part of our religious abortion ritual," it added.
The TST said it would be using its "religious Abortion Ritual" to argue for a religious exception under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a 1993 federal law which made it illegal for states to interfere in anyone’s religion without demonstrating a compelling interest.
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