Chris Lange, FISM News
The Satanic Temple on Wednesday announced the launch of a new “religious medical services arm” in New Mexico that will offer abortions as a form of “ritual” sacrament, which the group likens to Christian communions and baptisms.
According to a press release, “anyone in New Mexico seeking to perform The Satanic Temple’s abortion ritual will be able to receive free online medical services” through its new telehealth abortion service, THT Health.
“The Satanic Temple, on behalf of its members, objects to government interference with abortion access and contests that laws that impede our faith in bodily autonomy and our ability to perform our Religious Abortion Ritual violate the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” the group said.
The new facility is called “The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic” in mockery of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the opinion overturning federal abortion rights last year.
“In 1950, Samuel Alito’s mother did not have options, and look what happened,” said Malcolm Jarry, co-founder of The Satanic Temple, in a statement. “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.”
The New Mexico clinic has a licensed medical staff that will provide free chemical abortion prescriptions to women aged 17 and older who want to take part in The Satanic Temple’s “abortion ritual” and are up to 11 weeks pregnant, according to the release.
The leaders of the Satanic Temple said their goal is to offer “ritual” abortions in every state that has enacted laws to protect the lives of unborn children.
“This is just the beginning,” Erin Helian, Satanic Temple’s executive director of campaigns, said in a statement. “We will remain steadfast as we continue the fight to uphold reproductive justice in the United States.”
The group contends that killing unborn babies is a religious ritual and that restrictions on this practice violate its “fundamental tenets.” It also asserts that pro-life laws are rooted in “Christian nationalism,” according to an article on conservative podcaster Glenn Beck’s website.
“The fact that the Satanic Temple plans to set up a ritual abortion clinic in New Mexico speaks volumes about who is really behind the abortion agenda,” Elisa Martinez, founder of New Mexico Alliance for Life, told LifeNews.
“Their willingness to flaunt the practice of ending innocent human life as a ritualistic sacrifice shows how New Mexico public officials have cooperated with this evil by turning the state into the thriving taxpayer-funded abortion capital of the Southwest and even America,” Martinez said.
The news outlet reported that many activists have begun chanting “Hail, Satan!” at pro-abortion demonstrations.
The Satanic Club, which claims to promote nontheism, has filed multiple lawsuits against states that have enacted abortion bans or restrictions and once offered a free abortion in a raffle to raise legal funds, according to the article.
The Satanic Temple claims on its website to have 700,000 members internationally and is a recognized religion by the IRS. The group has gained attention in recent years through its expansion efforts, which include opening after-school Satan clubs at elementary schools. The group also installed a satanic display in the Illinois state Capitol building mocking the birth of Christ and fought to have its flag displayed in Boston City Hall in observance of “Satanic Appreciation Week.”
This article was partially informed by a The Gateway Pundit report.