BOISE, Idaho (LifeSiteNews) — Federal District Court Chief Judge David Nye has dismissed a lawsuit by atheist, far-left “troll” operation the Satanic Temple (TST) that claimed Idaho’s ban on most abortion violated their “religious freedom” to practice “ritualistic” abortions.
Idaho’s Defense of Life Act, which the Biden administration is challenging in an unrelated case that the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to hear in April, criminalizes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when allegedly “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” Catholic Vote reports that TST filed a legal challenge to the law asserting a First Amendment right to perform “abortion rituals,” which the satanic group says are intended to “cast off notions of guilt, shame, and mental discomfort.”
But Nye dismissed the suit “with prejudice” on February 1, barring TST from re-attempting it in his jurisdiction.
“The district court rejected every claim The Satanic Temple asserted and dismissed the case with prejudice,” said Idaho’s Republican Attorney General Raúl Labrador in celebration of the ruling. “The court held that each claim lacked merit, even describing one of The Satanic Temple’s positions as producing a ‘blatantly absurd’ result. My office will continue to defend the lives of the unborn at every turn.”
TST is a radical secular-leftist group that purports to embrace Satan’s name as a “symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority” while not believing that God, the devil, or other supernatural concepts literally exist, though it does promote satanic rituals. It is known for agitating for an array of leftist causes, including similarly unsuccessful pro-abortion lawsuits and promotion of LGBT “pride,” with the satanic branding helping draw attention to its antics via shock value. During the Trump administration, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recognized TST as a “church,” granting it tax-exempt status and strengthening its claims for religious accommodation.
Among its activities in recent years have been “After School Satan Clubs” in various school districts across the country, which TST promotes as merely to help teach “benevolence and empathy, critical thinking, problem solving, creative expression, personal sovereignty” and “compassion” through games, snacks, and other activities. But various statements by TST and its officials indicate a more adversarial, activist purpose, such as to stand as an “alternative to the religious clubs that use threats of eternal damnation to convert school children to their belief system.”
After School Satan Club national director June Everett framed the project as a protest against school religious clubs, saying “if the good news club packs up and leaves town then we pack up and leave town as well.”