The Idaho Attorney General’s office announced on February 2 that a district court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by The Satanic Temple against the state’s Defense of Life Act, which protects nearly all preborn children in the state from abortion.
In its 2022 lawsuit, The Satanic Temple claimed that Idaho’s pro-life law infringed on its members’ rights to participate in an abortion ritual. The Satanic Temple claims abortion is a religious rite, which consists of making affirmations in front of a mirror before and after the abortion procedure in a ritualistic manner. The organization has been a strong proponent of abortion, especially in the wake of the overturn of Roe v. Wade; last year it announced the opening of its own abortion facility in New Mexico called “The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic.”
In his ruling last week, Chief U.S. District Court Judge David C. Nye dismissed the lawsuit, saying that the Temple’s claims, “while interesting, are convoluted and do not lead to the desired result.”
The lawsuit was just one of several efforts The Satanic Temple has undergone over the years to attack pro-life laws in various states. It has previously lost similar legal battles in Missouri, Texas, and Indiana.
“The Satanic Temple claimed a constitutionally protected right for its female members to ceremonially abort their babies as part of a Satanic ritual that involves the eerie invocation: ‘By my body, my blood, by my will, it is done,'” explained Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador in a news release.
“The district court rejected every claim The Satanic Temple asserted and dismissed the case with prejudice. The court held that each claim lacked merit, even describing one of The Satanic Temple’s positions as producing a ‘blatantly absurd’ result,” said Labrador. “My office will continue to defend the lives of the unborn at every turn.”
Lawyers for The Satanic Temple have said they will appeal the decision with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
