UPDATED::ADDENDUM::Missouri Woman, a Satanist, Will Claim “Religious Freedom” to Get Out of 72-Hour Abortion Waiting Period

UPDATE::Satanists’ Lawsuit to Fight Missouri’s 72-Hour Abortion Waiting Period Hits a Bump but Rolls On

What’s the update on those lawsuits?

The federal lawsuit has not yet been decided. But the state lawsuit was apparently thrown out last month, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

A Cole County judge last month dismissed a Missouri woman’s case claiming the state’s abortion restrictions violate her religious beliefs.
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Judge Joe Beteem last month dismissed those claims, saying Doe’s “pleadings fail to allege facts, which if true, state a claim for relief under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”

Doe already had the abortion.

Despite the setback, Beteem issued the ruling “without prejudice,” meaning The Satanic Temple could re-submit the lawsuit if they were more specific about how this violated RFRA. And that’s exactly what they did last week.

Lucien Greaves explained in an email:

On January 20th, we filed an amended complaint, which spells out the RFRA claim in explicit detail. This amended complaint has been thoroughly scrutinized by our legal team and we anticipate that it will be sufficient for the case to proceed.
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The importance of these lawsuits couldn’t be clearer given new developments in Missouri. While our lawsuits provide just about the only high-profile [pushback] against government intrusion into reproductive rights, the situation in MO has grown ever darker and uglier. Sen. Kurt Schaefer, who provoked a minor outcry for attempting to block a Missouri University graduate student from studying the effects of MO’s mandated 72-hour abortion waiting period, has successfully extended the life of his Senate Interim Committee on the Sanctity of Human Life. The committee, which was originally formed to investigate debunked claims of an underground fetal parts market operating out of Planned Parenthood clinics, betrays religious bias in its very name. Their activities — pursuing and harassing Planned Parenthood executives and employees — have all the trappings of a new inquisition and the nation at large is fighting similar battles in an alarming number of States.

With a regressive trend against abortion in motion, and an unreliable Supreme Court, we feel strongly that Religious Exemptions are the best, and perhaps final, refuge for Freedom of Choice. With this in mind, The Satanic Temple is looking to partner with and/or eventually establish clinics of our own where our deeply-held religious convictions regarding bodily autonomy will have to be respected.

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The other day I posted a story about how certain groups are using the mRFRAs as tools to challenge "conservative Christianity’s encroachment on U.S. law."  In that posting mention was made concerning The Satanic Temple's effort on behalf of a woman in Missouri trying to gain access to abortion.

Since 1973’s Roe v. Wade ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States safeguarding the legality of abortion, the conservative religious right has grown violently hysterical in defining anti-abortion initiatives in terms of supreme moral significance. Lawmakers (primarily Republican) have steadily introduced “weasel bills” transparently designed to make the process of receiving an abortion more difficult, and overall as emotionally and logistically harrowing as they possibly can. Those who define the issue in terms of personal choice often find their views marginalized as indicative of values existing outside of the benefits of religious protection. While religio-conservative views seek to undermine abortion rights, they have also steadily worked to define “religious liberty” to be understood in terms of reserving the the right to deny contraceptives and oppose rational family planning practices. In fact, religious liberty works the other way, too.

As Satanists we believe in individual autonomy, personal choice, and the inviolability of one’s own body. Further, we believe one should be free to make one’s own decisions, uncoerced, based on the best available scientific evidence, whether or not the science comports with the religious and/or political views of others.

This past Summer, The Satanic Temple made an exemption available, for women who share our values, against “informed consent” materials — State-mandated informational material, imposed upon women in some states, that is often scientifically dubious (at best), and openly meant to dissuade from abortions, or create guilt about the procedure.

Recently, a member of The Satanic Temple, “Mary”, reached out to another TST member informing him that she will be seeking an abortion in her home state of Missouri, and that she intended to use our exemption form. She was put in contact with our St. Louis chapter, where the membership began to work diligently to provide Mary with support and safe passage. It was brought to our attention that an obligatory waiting period (72 hours) is burdened upon women seeking abortions in Missouri, a requirement we feel our deeply-held values exempt Mary from as well. We believe the the State Government should bear the burden of establishing a case for an imminent need to deny timely service, as such a requirement violates our sense of religious identity relating to personal choice and individual sovereignty.

The waiting period is another facile and insulting attempt at making abortion services less available. With a dearth of abortion clinics, some women are made to travel a great distance for services they then have to wait three days to receive, adding the expense of accommodations and time away from work.

We created an exemption form for the waiting period that we expect Mary will deliver upon her arrival. We will seek to pursue legal action if that waiver is not respected.

Missouri Woman, a Satanist, Will Claim “Religious Freedom” to Get Out of 72-Hour Abortion Waiting Period