The Satanic Temple has announced the opening of a second abortion clinic that it says will offer a ‘religious’ approach to reproductive rights.
The initiative is designed to challenge stringent state abortion bans by framing the procedure as a spiritual necessity.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts, the Satanic Temple was established in reaction to the ‘intrusion of Christian values on American politics.’
The new clinic, dubbed the ‘Right to Your Life Satanic Abortion Clinic,’ is located in Virginia and aims to provide free medical abortions via telehealth screenings and appointments to participants who engage in what the temple describes as a ‘destruction ritual.’
The ‘Satanic Abortion Ritual,’ which the temple claims is a deeply held religious belief, allows women to receive abortion services while ‘asserting their right to bodily autonomy as a religious practice.’
The temple specifies steps to be performed before, during and after the abortion.
To properly perform the ritual participants will need a copy of the Satanic Temple’s Third and Fifth Tenants and the personal affirmation, according to the Abortion Ritual Procedure.
By undergoing the ritual one is believed to ‘cast off notions of guilt, shame, and mental discomfort that a patient may be experiencing due to choosing to have a legal and medically safe abortion,’ the organization’s website reads.
By invoking religious freedom, the temple seeks to tests the limits of the law pushing back against what they view as oppressive legislation, boasting the motto, ‘Abortion is a religious right.’
Erin Helian, the executive director of the Satanic Temple, told the Christian Post that the group has received funding from donors, which enabled it to open the Virginia dispensary.
The temple has said it has not partnered with any outside organizations to operate its two telehealth clinics, although the group does work with the online pharmacy Honey Bee Health.
‘Our staff virtually meet with each patient over a series of online visits to ensure the safety of each patient, including follow up meetings,’ Helian said.
‘Our staff thoroughly discusses the potential risks with each patient, and for this reason, we urge each patient to know where their closest medical facility may be located in the unlikely event that complications may arise.’
She continued, ‘We do not agree with the notion that telehealth care puts patients at risk. Instead, we argue that by expanding care and access, telehealth clinics, like ours, can save lives.’
Abortion is among the temple’s many advocacy campaigns as the organization argues that abortion is a religious right, opposing traditional Christian beliefs.
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, the Satanic Temple opened its first ‘religious abortion clinic’ in New Mexico in February 2023.
The facility, named the ‘Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic’ after the Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who delivered the ruling that overturned Roe, has offered 100 abortions to New Mexico women since its opening.
The average cost of an abortion through the temple’s offered services is $91, according to the Satanic Temple.