Looks like the lower court is going to give the State Supreme Court a shot at having Satanism be the default position of the law.
Satanist wins transfer of her abortion rights case to the Missouri Supreme Court.
A Missouri woman who is an adherent of the Satanic Temple won a victory in court last week in her quest to show that state abortion law violates her religious beliefs.
The Western District Court of Appeals ruled in her favor Tuesday, writing that her constitutional challenge — rare for its basis in religion — presented “a contested matter of right that involves fair doubt and reasonable room for disagreement.”
The woman, identified as Mary Doe in court documents, argued that her religion does not adhere to the idea that life begins at conception, and, because of that, the prerequisites for an abortion in Missouri are unconstitutionally violating her freedom of religion protected by the First Amendment.
The suit names Gov. Eric Greitens, Attorney General Josh Hawley and others as defendants.
Doe underwent an abortion in May 2015 in St. Louis. But before she was able to have the procedure, she had to comply with the state’s informed consent law.
The law compels women to wait 72 hours between their initial visit and the procedure, view an active ultrasound and sign a form pledging that they’ve read a booklet that includes the line, “[t]he life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being.”
She declined to hear her fetus’ heartbeat and felt “guilt and shame,” according to court documents.
She claims that “the sole purpose of the law is to indoctrinate pregnant women into the belief held by some, but not all, Christians that a separate and unique human being begins at conception,” according to the court’s opinion. “Because the law does not recognize or include other beliefs, she contends that it establishes an official religion and makes clear that the state disapproves of her beliefs.”
The case would be the first of its kind to be heard by either the Missouri Supreme Court or U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Western District Court.
“Neither the Missouri Supreme Court nor the U.S. Supreme Court has considered whether a Booklet of this nature, an Ultrasound, an Audible Heartbeat Offer, and a seventy-two-hour Waiting Period violate the Religion Clause rights of pregnant women,” the court wrote.
Judge Thomas Newton issued the unanimous opinion. He wrote that Doe argued she must not support religious, philosophical or political beliefs that imbue her fetal tissue with an existence separate, apart or unique from her body.
“Because we believe that this case raises real and substantial constitutional claims, it is within the Missouri Supreme Court’s exclusive jurisdiction…” Newton wrote, “and we hereby order its transfer.”
Calm down everyone, we are not knee deep in a culture of death.
We’re eyebrows deep.
ht/ JS
From a strictly legalistic point of view, she has a point. The Missouri informed consent abortion law is imperfectly written and her argument ought to be heard by the MO Supreme Court.
I sincerely hope that the court tells her to go get stuffed, and tells the legislature that they screwed up and need to rewrite the law in a way that this nonsense doesn’t come up again to waste everybody’s time.
It isn’t religion–it is science. The baby’s DNA is totally different than the Mom’s.
I suppose “Mary Doe and the Satanists” will next be claiming their “religion” should be allowed to perform ritual sacrifice of full-term babies.
Isn’t asking a Judge to rule on Satan, a joke at best ? Aren’t you asking him to rule for or against Satan ? I’m not touching that !!!
But I can’t deny making a cake?
So the Devil will really have an advocate.
Am I the only one that sees Hillary in that painting, she is pure evil.
She declined to hear her fetus’ heartbeat and felt “guilt and shame,” according to court documents.
Guilt and shame. That comes from something called a conscience.
That’s right CORKY !
Even an an educated atheist will tell you that!
She must be real proud that she’s a Satanist, but she hides behind A pseudonym of Mary Doe.
On top of your deception, Mary is Jesus’ mama’ s name.
*SIGH*
God isn’t gonna put up with this forever.
I thought Daniel Webster already settled the case against Satan.
“In desperation Webster thunders, “Mr. Stone is an American citizen, and no American citizen may be forced into the service of a foreign prince. We fought England for that in ’12 and we’ll fight all hell for it again!””
See: The Devil and Daniel Webster
I thought being anti science was bad! and killing innocent people was bad.
Jesus forgive us!
My religion strictly forbids the paying of taxes.
Also it says I must carry a gun at all times, can ignore all speed limit signs, and am allowed free cookies at Subway whenever I want.
Who wants to join my class action suit?
Where does this end? We are at Talmud lever hair splitting now.
There must be no endangerment of a person from conception to grave, and your religion can shut up.
There’s a new one every week
My new religion says I must, at some point at parties, appear with my Carbide Cannon Big noise for boys Helmet and fire off some shots in the kitchen to the amazement of the hostess.
Well, sometimes Christians just know better than you.
Satan has been in a bad mood lately.
He added a foot of length to Helen Keller’s cane, just to mess with her into thinking she’s shrinking.
She screamed, “Dokginytvansdlkfgptypfwkg!”
👿
We should all pray that they don’t start allowing refugee head hunters from Borneo.
She “felt “guilt and shame” – and yet murdered her child anyway.
No argument from me that she is a satanist.
let’s just call abortion what it is.
child sacrifice.
remember moloch? our politicians sure do.
they can’t sacrifice enough to him.
That thing need the face of Hillary on it!