Members of a satanic religious group are claiming the U.S. Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision can be applied to protect their religious beliefs, ABC News reported.
In the Hobby Lobby decision, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations like Hobby Lobby may be exempt from providing women contraceptives if it violates their religious beliefs.
The Satanic Temple, based in New York and over 10,000 members strong, declared its female members should be able to use the ruling to opt out of informed consent laws- which require women to read information about abortions before carrying out the procedure.
"A number of states require that abortion providers give information to patients that may be 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," the Satanic Temple said on its website according to RantLifestyle.com
"Thanks to rulings such as Hobby Lobby, we can take a stand against these practices," the website reads.
The Satanic Temple also launched an initiative against informed consent laws by allowing their members to print out a form stating their objections to reading abortion literature. If doctors refuse to grant the exemption, the group will sue on the member's behalf, according to ABC News.
James MacNaughton, lawyer for the Satanic Temple, said the form is a minor first step.
"It's a statement from the patient to the physician and to the world at large that 'here's my position, here's what I believe.' Actually going to court and picking the test case actually depends on the facts," the lawyer said.
"At this stage, we don't know who that will be."
If the Satanic Temple does file a lawsuit, using the Hobby Lobby decision would put them at an advantage, according to Marci Hamilton, a law professor who writes about religious freedom, told the station.
The suit is also bound to raise hairs for the same religious conservatives who defended their rights during the Hobby Lobby case.
"The courts can't pick and choose between beliefs," Hamilton told ABC News.
