The Satanic Temple (TST) has opened its second abortion facility — this time in Virginia — and has reaffirmed its so-called belief in abortion as a supposed religious ritual. TST actually claims to operate the world’s only “religious” abortion facilities.
Last year, the Satanic Temple announced the opening of its first facility, located in New Mexico. In an attempted insult to the pro-life movement, TST named it “The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic.” Malcom Jarry, one of the founders of the Satanic Temple, explained at the time, saying, “In 1950, Samuel Alito’s mother did not have options, and look what happened. Prior to 1973, doctors who performed abortions could lose their licenses and go to jail. The clinic’s name serves to remind people just how important it is to have the right to control one’s body and the potential ramifications of losing that right.”
At their New Mexico facility, women can obtain chemical abortions. A client will first receive a free online consultation, before having her prescription sent to an unnamed pharmacy partnering with the Satanic Temple, with the pills then mailed to her in “discreet” packaging.
In announcing its second facility, TST has again attempted to insult the pro-life movement by naming it “The Right To Your Life Satanic Abortion Clinic.” In a press release, TST boasted of how its “services” are provided free of charge, with women only paying the cost of the medication itself. It also stated that its goal is to promote abortion and see it made more widespread.
“With the opening of our Virginia clinic, TST Health is expanding access to a new region, offering safe and affordable virtual abortion care to those who need it most,” the press release said. We’re also actively working to increase access in other states, including taking legal action in restrictive states such as Indiana and Idaho to provide religious abortion services there as well. This is a challenging effort, but we are committed to fighting for the reproductive rights of our members and supporters.”
“As abortion rights continue to be a central issue in the upcoming US presidential election, we remain steadfast in our mission to expand access and protect bodily autonomy,” the press release continued. “We know the urgency of this work, and we will not stop until we have made a lasting difference.”
The Satanic Temple has claimed that abortion is a religious ritual for them, and pro-life laws therefore infringe upon their religious freedom. This “ritual” has been endorsed by Cosmopolitan magazine, which simultaneously said that the intentional killing of a preborn human being in this so-called ritual doesn’t amount to a “religious sacrifice.”
In the alleged abortion ritual, a woman first reads the Third Tenet — “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone” — in front of a mirror. After taking the abortion pills, the woman recites the Fifth Tenet — “Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs” — in front of a mirror again. After passing the preborn child’s body, the woman concludes by reciting a personal affirmation which aligns well with the usual pro-abortion mantras: “By my body, by my blood, by my will it is done.”
