Editing The Satanic Temple (section)

== Reproductive autonomy ==

===Abortion medical services===
In February, 2023 TST announced it would open a medical clinic in New Mexico offering [[medical abortion|medication abortion]]. Operating under the name TST Health, the "[[Samuel Alito]]'s Mom's Satanic Abortion Clinic" will offer free medical consultations and prescribe abortion medication, delivered by mail.<ref>{{cite press release |title=The Satanic Temple Launches Religious Telehealth Abortion Clinic in New Mexico |publisher=The Satanic Temple |url=https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0428/0465/files/TST_Telehealth_Clinic_Press_Release_Feb_1_-_FINAL.pdf |date=February 1, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Pandolfo |first=Chris |date=February 1, 2023 |title=The Satanic Temple opens clinic to provide 'religious abortion' care named for Justice Samuel Alito's mother |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/the-satanic-temple-opens-clinic-provide-religious-abortion-care-named-justice-samuel-alito-mother |access-date=2023-02-01 |work=Fox News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About TST Health |url=https://www.tsthealth.org/about |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=TST Health}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-15 |title=Satanic Temple opens online abortion clinic named after Samuel Alito's mother |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-satanic-temple-abortion-clinic-samuel-alito-b2282495.html |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> Guided by a Satanic Temple minister, patients participate in the abortion ritual, reciting tenets about bodily autonomy and the importance of science.<ref name="nyt2023SAMSAC">{{cite web |first=Pam |last=Belluck |date=2023-06-28 |title=Religious Freedom Arguments Underpin Wave of Challenges to Abortion Bans |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/health/abortion-religious-freedom.html |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

===Planned Parenthood counter-protests===
[[File:Future of Baby is Now wide Blackmore 15.png|thumb|"Future of Baby is Now", an abortion rights protest by The Satanic Temple]]
On August 22, 2015, the Detroit chapter of the Satanic Temple held a [[counter-protest]] outside of a [[Ferndale, Michigan|Ferndale]] [[Planned Parenthood]] location in response to anti-abortionist groups that were planning to protest Planned Parenthood on that same date.<ref>{{cite web |last=DeVito |first=Lee |date=August 24, 2015 |title=The Satanic Temple countered Planned Parenthood protests with some guerrilla theatre |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2015/08/24/the-satanic-temple-countered-the-planned-parenthood-national-day-of-protest-with-some-guerrilla-theatre |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028204533/https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2015/08/24/the-satanic-temple-countered-the-planned-parenthood-national-day-of-protest-with-some-guerrilla-theatre |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |access-date=November 29, 2018 |website=[[Detroit Metro Times]]}}</ref> As part of the protest the Temple held a [[guerrilla theatre]] [[performance art|performance]] that included two men dressed as clergy pouring milk on kneeling actresses.<ref>{{cite web |last=Boland |first=Barbara |date=August 23, 2015 |title=Satanists drench women with milk for Planned Parenthood counter-protest |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/satanists-drench-women-with-milk-for-planned-parenthood-counter-protest |access-date=November 29, 2018 |website=[[Washington Examiner]]}}</ref> This was not the first protest of this type that the Temple had held in support of the organization, as they had previously held a 2013 protest where they brought children to the [[Texas State Capitol]] who chanted "Fuck You" and "Hail Satan", while holding signs reading "Stay Out Of My Mommy's Vagina".<ref>{{cite web |date=August 26, 2015 |title=Planned Parenthood Supporters: Satanists Drench Women in 'Breast' Milk To Stand Against 'Forced Motherhood' (VIDEO) |url=http://www.hngn.com/articles/123118/20150826/planned-parenthood-satanists-drench-women-breast-milk-stand-against-forced.htm |access-date=November 29, 2018 |website=Headlines & Global News}}</ref>

On April 23, 2016, led by [[Jex Blackmore]], members of the Detroit chapter of the Temple counter-protested the Citizens for a Pro-Life Society's protest of Planned Parenthood. Temple members dressed in bondage [[fetish clothing]], wearing baby masks and diapers while engaging in [[flagellation]]. The Temple said that the reason for the protest was to "expose the anti-choice protest as an act of fetal [[idolatry]], highlighting the fetishization and abstraction of the 'baby.'"<ref>{{cite web |last=Zavala-Offman |first=Alysa |date=April 23, 2016 |title=The Satanic Temple will interrupt Planned Parenthood protests in classic Satanic Temple fashion |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2016/04/23/the-satanic-temple-plans-to-interrupt-some-planned-parenthood-in-classic-satanic-temple-fashion |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130071810/https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2016/04/23/the-satanic-temple-plans-to-interrupt-some-planned-parenthood-in-classic-satanic-temple-fashion |archive-date=November 30, 2018 |access-date=November 29, 2018 |website=Detroit Metro Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Utz |first=Charlie |date=2018-10-31 |title=Meet Satanist activist and performance artist, Jex Blackmore |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/42000/1/satanist-activist-performance-artist-jex-blackmore-america-detroit-good-trouble |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref>

===Religious abortion ritual===
Following a failed abortion lawsuit in June 2020,<ref name="abortionMO">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=June 9, 2020 |title=Federal appeals court axes Satanic Temple abortion lawsuit |url=https://apnews.com/article/mo-state-wire-lawsuits-us-news-columbia-michael-brown-27b897fd742c1efe2e3272626c46ed70 |access-date=2021-09-07 |work=[[Associated Press]] |location=Columbia, MO}}</ref> the Satanic Temple announced a religious abortion ritual on August 5, 2020, which allowed members living in [[RFRA]] states to be exempt from "enduring medically unnecessary and unscientific abortion regulations when seeking to terminate their pregnancy".<ref>{{cite web |date=2020-08-05 |title=Satanic Abortions Are Protected by Religious Liberty Laws |url=https://manage.kmail-lists.com/subscriptions/web-view?a=VLExP9&c=SugsqE&r=ud9D65s&m=STv7Lw&k=8e4ebb8d2d6664d18e59a8c7bf56fbd6 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910201818/https://manage.kmail-lists.com/subscriptions/web-view?a=VLExP9&c=SugsqE&k=8e4ebb8d2d6664d18e59a8c7bf56fbd6&m=STv7Lw&r=ud9D65s |archive-date=September 10, 2021 |access-date=December 4, 2020 |website=The Satanic Temple Monthly Newsletter}}</ref> In September 2021, as part of its opposition to the [[Texas Heartbeat Act]], the Satanic Temple wrote the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]], saying that it had a faith-based right to access [[medical abortion]] drugs, including [[misoprostol]] and [[mifepristone]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Amanda |title=Salem-based Satanic Temple challenges Texas abortion law, arguing religious freedom - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/07/metro/salem-based-satanic-temple-challenges-texas-abortion-law-arguing-religious-freedom/ |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=BostonGlobe.com}}</ref> Temple lawyers protest a specific [[Texas Heartbeat Act|Texas abortion law]], recently sustained by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]], arguing that the Temple's status as a non-theistic religious organization should ensure access to abortion as a faith-based right.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nowlin |first=Sanford |date=September 4, 2021 |title=The Satanic Temple begins legal maneuver to skirt Texas' new abortion ban |url=https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2021/09/04/the-satanic-temple-begins-legal-maneuver-to-skirt-texas-new-abortion-ban |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921074515/https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2021/09/04/the-satanic-temple-begins-legal-maneuver-to-skirt-texas-new-abortion-ban |archive-date=September 21, 2021 |access-date=2021-09-05 |website=San Antonio Current |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-04 |title=Satanic Temple takes legal action against Texas abortion law and says members exempt |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/satanic-templetexas-abortion-law-b1914346.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/satanic-templetexas-abortion-law-b1914346.html |archive-date=June 18, 2022 |access-date=2021-09-05 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

In 2022, ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' was overturned in ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'', ending federal abortion rights and  allowing individual states to regulate their own abortion laws.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mangan |first1=Dan |last2=Breuninger |first2=Kevin |date=24 June 2022 |title=Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending 50 years of federal abortion rights |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-overturned-by-supreme-court-ending-federal-abortion-rights.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625000826/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-overturned-by-supreme-court-ending-federal-abortion-rights.html |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |access-date=24 June 2022 |website=[[CNBC]] |language=en}}</ref> Following this, the Satanic Temple commented on Twitter that the organization was "the leading beacon of light in the battle for abortion access", and that "a religious exemption [from the Satanic Temple] will be the only available challenge to many restrictions to access".<ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1540381792049430530 |user=satanic_temple_ |title=The Satanic Temple is the leading beacon of light in the battle for abortion access. With Roe v Wade overturned, a religious exemption will be the only available challenge to many restrictions to access. |author=The Satanic Temple |date=24 June 2022 |access-date=26 June 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220626161630/https://mobile.twitter.com/satanic_temple_/status/1540381792049430530 |archive-date=26 June 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In response, ''[[Jezebel (website)|Jezebel]]'' magazine critiqued the organization's position that a religious exemption would guarantee its members freedom to seek abortions even in states where they were no longer legal, criticizing its position as overly-simplistic, unproven, and put pregnant women attempting to use the Satanic Temple's religious exemption to have an abortion in legal jeopardy.<ref name="jezebel">{{cite web |last=Rinkunas |first=Susan |date=25 June 2022 |title=Don't Count on the Satanic Temple for a Legal Abortion |url=https://jezebel.com/satanic-temple-abortion-rights-religious-exemption-real-1849073332 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220626152151/https://jezebel.com/satanic-temple-abortion-rights-religious-exemption-real-1849073332 |archive-date=26 June 2022 |access-date=26 June 2022 |website=jezebel.com |publisher=[[Jezebel (website)|Jezebel]]}}</ref> Other organizations focused on reproductive rights, such as the [[Texas Equal Access Fund|Texas Equal Access]] (TEA) Fund, also commented on the Satanic Temple's position,<ref name="jezebel" />{{rp|q=Denise Rodriguez, communications manager for the Texas Equal Access (TEA) Fund, an abortion fund serving north Texas, said she's wary of TST promoting an unproven loophole, especially for people who manage their own abortions with pills. "[People] could possibly put themselves at risk for criminalization trying to do this," Rodriguez told Jezebel.}} with both the TEA Fund and the [[Yellowhammer Fund]]—an abortion fund serving the states of Alabama and Mississippi—having previously spoken out against the Satanic Temple's position.<ref>{{cite web |author=Yellowhammer Fund |date=13 September 2021 |title=The Satanic Temple is not the last hope for abortion access. |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CTxdsd5J7am/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220626162829/https://www.instagram.com/p/CTxdsd5J7am/ |archive-date=26 June 2022 |access-date=26 June 2022 |website=instagram.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1435218714627035138 |user=TEAFund |title=PS - The Satanic Temple ritual doesn't work to exempt you from abortion restrictions. Stop spreading that misinformation. |author=Texas Equal Access Fund |date=7 September 2021 |access-date=26 June 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220626162146/https://mobile.twitter.com/TEAFund/status/1435218714627035138 |archive-date=26 June 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Though the Satanic Temple offers a dedicated email address for members who encounter legal problems when seeking an abortion using its religious exemption form, former TST reproductive rights spokesperson, [[Jex Blackmore]], stated that there was "no guarantee" that the Temple would cover a member's legal fees or provide legal support. In response, the Temple's lawyer, Matthew Kezhaya, stated that part of the abortion ritual outlined by the Satanic Temple as the reason for its members' religious exemption required "consulting with your local minister", a step ''Jezebel'' noted was not mentioned on the Temple's website or either of its abortion ritual guides, and that in the case of "foreseeable legal complications", the Temple refers its members to Kezhaya "for further evaluation and discussion".<ref name="jezebel" />