The Satanic Temple (TST) has announced the opening of a new health clinic in New Mexico, offering “free religious medication abortion” services.
TST refers to abortion as a “ritual.”
In an apparent deathwish upon Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, the clinic will be named “The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic.”
“In 1950, Samuel Alito’s mother did not have options, and look what happened,” said co-founder of The Satanic Temple Malcolm Jarry. “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.”
TST Health, the medical arm of the non-theistic religious group, plans to offer telehealth appointments and abortion pills, with the services being provided free of charge as part of their “abortion ritual.” The only cost for patients will be the medication, which can be purchased from a pharmacy for around $90.
The New Mexico facility will be staffed by licensed medical professionals and open to state residents who are at least 17 years old and up to 11 weeks pregnant.
Founded in 2012 by Jarry and Lucien Graves, the Temple’s goal is to obtain government benefits and privileges as a religious organization without professing belief in a deity. The organization’s mission is to “encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.”
Bodily autonomy and the freedom to offend are considered sacred principles for the group, which has sparked controversy with after-school Satan clubs, Baphomet statues in public displays, and challenges to state abortion bans.
“TST is proud to expand reproductive options for our members. This is just the beginning,” said the Temple’s executive director of campaigns, Erin Helian. “We will remain steadfast as we continue the fight to uphold reproductive justice in the United States.”
