Satanists Leverage Hobby Lobby Ruling In Support of Pro­Choice Initiative

So is the title of the press release we received this morning from The Satanic Temple. You may recall our interview with Doug Mesner from earlier this year. The Satanic Temple is, perhaps, best known for trying to build a child-friendly monument to satan in OKC:

How Mesner and TST are rocking the Hobby Lobby ruling is interesting:

The Satanic Temple Leverages Hobby Lobby Ruling to Claim Exemption From State Mandated ProLife Materials

Reads the next line of the press release.

And then their website:

A number of states require that abortion providers give information to patients that maybe inaccurate or misleading. Demands that members of the Satanic Temple, or those who share our beliefs, be subjected against our will to anything but the best scientific understanding are a violation of our religious beliefs.

Thanks to rulings such as Hobby Lobby, we can take a stand against these practices.

Mesner points out how the Hobby Lobby ruling bolsters their position:

While we feel we have a strong case for an exemption regardless of the Hobby Lobby ruling, the Supreme Court has decided that religious beliefs are so sacrosanct that they can even trump scientific fact. This was made clear when they allowed Hobby Lobby to claim certain contraceptives were abortifacients, when in fact they are not. Because of the respect the Court has given to religious beliefs, and the fact that our beliefs are based on best available knowledge, we expect that our belief in the illegitimacy of state mandated informational material is enough to exempt us, and those who hold our beliefs, from having to receive them."

And how to exercise it:

"We have drawn up a letter for women who are considering an abortion. The letter explains our position and puts the care provider on notice that a failure to respect our call for an exemption from state mandated informed consent materials constitutes a violation of our religious liberty."

All women who share our deeply held belief that all their personal choices should be made with access to the best available information, undiluted by biased or false information, are free toeek protection with this exemption whether they are members of The Satanic Temple or not. We merely contend that we are in a unique position to argue the merits of this belief, as it is fundamental to our religious philosophy.

And, according to the press release, this is the first of a series of women's health initiatives TST is embarking on.