The Satanic Temple claims it has more than 11,000 members in Indiana, and one of them is pregnant and doesn’t want to be.
“Under their religion, a woman’s body is inviolate and subject to her own will alone and they pick that up in the satanic abortion ritual which includes recitation of or affirmation of autonomy before obtaining an abortion,” said Jody Meira, a professor at Indiana University’s Maurer Law School.
The satanic abortion ritual included in the lawsuit filing introduces unequal religious protection into the legal debate over the new law.
“This new abortion law does affect members of different religions in different ways and, again, to practice religious freedom, we can’t have a public space that is occupied entirely by Christian messages and symbols,” continued Madeira.
The lawsuit claims the new law unfairly divides women into two classes: those who are pregnant due to rape or incest that can access abortion, and those who became pregnant due to birth control failure that cannot.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Todd Rokita issued the following statement:
The U.S. Supreme court has already rejected the idea that abortion is protected by the Constitution, and this new lawsuit merely offers weaker arguments.
“We have to ensure that religious jurisprudence doesn’t result in a public space that is occupied entirely by Christian messages and symbols or else simply we’re not upholding the Constitution,” concluded Madeira.
