PROS AND CONS OF CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

Satanic Temple Files Federal Lawsuit over Missouri's Abortion Restrictions

The Satanic Temple filed a federal lawsuit on June 23, 2015 to protest Missouri’s abortion restrictions, specifically the informed consent booklet and the 72-hour waiting period before the procedure is performed.

In May 2015, “Mary Doe,” a member of the Satanic Temple, filed a lawsuit against the Governor and Attorney General of Missouri after attempting to forgo the informed consent and waiting period requirements at a St. Louis Planned Parenthood. Doe argued that the requirements violated her religious beliefs, stating that “As an adherent to the principles of the Satanic Temple… I, and I alone, decide whether my inviolable body remains pregnant.” Doe and the Temple believe that the abortion restrictions violated the Federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit reproductive health research and policy organization, three states (Missouri, South Dakota, and Utah) require 72-hour waiting periods, while 23 other states require waiting periods from 18 to 48 hours. 10 states require that written materials be given to the woman seeking the abortion with five states requiring information stating that personhood begins at conception.

Some religions are opposed to abortion, such as the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, which explains on its website: “Our church’s explanation of the Small Catechism puts the matter well when it says, ‘The living but unborn are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception. Since abortion takes a human life, it is not a moral option except to prevent the death of another human, the mother.’”

An article about the lawsuit in the National Catholic Register argued against Mary Doe’s right to get an abortion: “At the moment of conception, the unborn child has a unique DNA. That’s science. Anything else is just propaganda… It seems to me we all knew which side of the abortion debate Satan was rooting for. I just didn’t think it would take him this long to find a lawyer.”