Cosmopolitan welcomes ‘satanic abortion ritual’ ploy

Cosmopolitan magazine has come under fire for promoting The Satanic Temple’s ‘abortion ritual’.

Since the overturning of Roe v Wade in June 2022 many US states have introduced laws to better protect unborn lives. The satanist group is seeking to get around such laws by portraying abortion as a religious activity.

Journalist Arielle Domb welcomed the prospect of its abortion centre in New Mexico having “a real chance of breaking the religious right’s grip on abortion law”.

‘Christ wins’

At the Temple’s centres, women can enact a ritual while taking abortion pills. It is trying to claim that not allowing such centres to open in pro-life states prevents it from practising its beliefs.

On Instagram, many slammed Cosmopolitan – which describes itself as the “biggest young women’s media brand in the world” – for promoting “Satanic abortion” and emphasised Jesus’ victory over Satan.

One user stated: “It’s amazing how mainstream media won’t mention Jesus, yet Satan gets a pinned post.”

Another added: “Christ always wins”.

‘Willfully deficient’

Earlier this year, the Temple was blocked from attempting to bypass Texas’ laws protecting unborn children, after a court branded its legal challenge “willfully deficient”.

The Temple initially filed legal action in 2021 against Texas’ ‘Heartbeat Bill’, which outlaws most abortions from around six weeks, and amended its lawsuit for the third time after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year.

The Temple claimed to be exempt from such laws because the protections interfere with its “ritual abortion”, but a federal District Court found that it had provided “almost no factual detail and makes broad, vague allegations without even identifying the laws being challenged”.

The Temple’s separate legal action in Indiana was subsequently dismissed for failing to provide sufficient evidence, while similar lawsuits in the states of Missouri and Idaho are still awaiting court judgment.