The Satanic Temple (TST) is planning to launch a telemedicine abortion facility in New Mexico, and intends to name it after the mother of the pro-life Supreme Court justice who penned the majority decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade.
In a press release, TST announced its plans to open “The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic.” In a press release, Malcolm Jarry, TST co-founder, insinuated that Alito’s mother should have aborted him, or would have aborted him, had abortion been legal at the time.
“In 1950, Samuel Alito’s mother did not have options, and look what happened,” Jarry said. “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.”
Women who go to the abortion facility will receive a free online consultation before having their prescription sent to an unnamed pharmacy partnering with TST, and the abortion pills will then be mailed to the woman in “discreet” packaging. TST also again referred to abortion as a “religious ritual” in its press release.
“TST is proud to expand reproductive options for our members. This is just the beginning,” Erin Helian, Executive Director of Campaigns, said. “We will remain steadfast as we continue the fight to uphold reproductive justice in the United States.” The press release added that their “abortion ritual” is not bound to laws regarding abortion, due to the group’s First Amendment rights.
The temple’s abortion ritual consists of reading the Third Tenet — “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone” — in front of a mirror before undergoing the abortion. After taking the medication, they recite 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, they recite a personal affirmation: “By my body, by my blood, by my will it is done.”
Yet despite its ongoing claims of religious freedom, TST has repeatedly failed to overturn pro-life laws.
The abortion facility is part of TST Health, and said it plans to expand the operation to other states in the near future.
