The Satanic Temple cannot challenge Indiana’s pro-life law, appeals court rules

In a unanimous decision issued Jan. 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit dismissed a lawsuit filed by The Satanic Temple that challenged Indiana's pro-life law, ruling that the group lacks the legal standing to bring the case. 

The ruling upholds a 2023 lower court decision and halts the organization’s attempt to secure religious exemptions to Indiana law for what it describes as a “Satanic Abortion Ritual.” The satanist group had sought to force the state to allow it to distribute mail-order abortion drugs to members in Indiana.

The case stems from Indiana’s 2022 pro-life law, enacted shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which makes nearly all abortions in the state illegal, with limited exceptions for rape or incest up to 10 weeks of pregnancy or to save the life of the mother up to 20 weeks. 

The Satanic Temple, based in Salem, Massachusetts, argued the ban violated its members’ religious freedom under the U.S. Constitution and Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The satanist group claims on its website to be a “religious organization” dedicated to opposing “tyrannical authority” and promoting what it calls “benevolence and empathy.”

According to court documents, the group in 2022 formed a telehealth abortion facility that it called “Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic” to provide abortion-inducing drugs without in-person visits. They claimed this was part of their “ritual of ‘destruction’” designed to “‘cast off notions of guilt, shame, and mental discomfort.’” The organization says the abortion facility’s name was chosen as a political protest against Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. 

The appeals court found that The Satanic Temple lacked standing because it failed to demonstrate any real injury caused by Indiana’s restrictions on telehealth abortions or related provisions.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita hailed the decision as a major win for the state's pro-life stance. 

“This lawsuit was ridiculous from the start, but this unanimous court decision is a critical victory because it continues to uphold our pro-life law that is constitutionally and legally rock-solid,” Rokita said in a press release, later adding, “Our state has proudly built a strong culture of life, and no satanic cult — or any extremist group — is going to stop us.”

Rokita credited Solicitor General James Barta and former Deputy Solicitor General Jenna Lorence, now Alaska’s solicitor general, for their work on the case.

“We're proud to have secured another win that keeps Indiana's pro-life law firmly in place," Barta said. “This unanimous ruling is a major step forward for protecting unborn life, and we're grateful to stand with Hoosier families in defending these essential safeguards.” 

The Satanic Temple criticized the ruling in a response on its website and said it plans to refile the suit after identifying a pregnant woman in Indiana “to stand as anonymous plaintiffs in contesting Indiana’s abortion ban.” As CatholicVote previously reported, the group claims it does not believe in the existence of Satan or “the supernatural” and instead honors the evil one as “a symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority.”

The ruling aligns with similar dismissals of Satanic Temple challenges in other states, further reinforcing states’ pro-life laws. In one recent case in November, CatholicVote reported that a federal court in Idaho dismissed a lawsuit brought by The Satanic Temple against its pro-life laws.