Well, what do you know, we may have dueling religions here. The Evangelical Christians in their zealous attempt to inflict their religion upon the rest of the country may have met their match. The conservative Heritage Foundation has been providing the go-to list for Supreme Court justices. Then, in the middle of the night, SCOTUS set the nation reeling.
The new law bans nearly all abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That typically occurs at six weeks, long before many women even realize that they are pregnant. Just as horrendous, the law lets private citizens sue anyone who has something to do with performing an abortion outside of that constriction and rewards their bounty-hunting with $10,000 for winning. Keep in mind, some of the “women” can be little girls as young as nine-year-old and sexually abused by a relative or close friend. Not a pretty picture, is it?
The Satanic Temple (TST) is challenging the recently enacted abortion restrictions in Texas, citing religious freedoms. What does religion have to do with a woman having control over her own body? Perhaps, religion is just a convenient place to hang severe misogyny. Regardless, it appears there will be a battle of the religions in court.
It is interesting that six Roman Catholic justices sit on the bench, even though they only make up 20 percent of the U.S. population. Now, Catholics are all over the place from far left to far right. Case in point, President Joe Biden respects a woman’s right to choose. And two members voted against the Texas anti-abortion law, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sonia Sotomayer. Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer also dissented.
John Gehring, Catholic program director at the Washington-based clergy network Faith in Public Life said:
‘The problem is not how many justices are Catholic. The cause for alarm is the court’s ideological lurch to the right, and what that means for health care, voting rights and other moral issues at stake in this election.’
Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett are all Catholics, and they all voted to let the draconian anti-abortion law stand. Justice Neil Gorsuch voted with them. He was raised Catholic but now attends an Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado with his wife and children, CNN reported. Although when questioned during their nomination about abortion rights and stare decisis (respecting long-standing laws), they did perform their best moderate imitation.
The Associated Press (AP) wrote:
‘It’s a striking development given that the high court, for most of its history, was almost entirely populated by white male Protestants. Catholic academics and political analysts offer several explanations for the turnaround – related to Catholics’ educational traditions, their interest in the law, and – in the case of Catholic conservatives – an outlook that has appealed to recent Republican presidents filling judicial vacancies.’
A professor of religion at La Salle University in Philadelphia Margaret McGuinness said:
‘[Republican presidents] sought nominees who’d be part of an effort to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a nationwide right to abortion.’
The Satanic Temple (TST) has declared that it is “ready to assist” any of its members choosing to fight the SCOTUS midnight order. This religious group is lobbying Texas under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act (TRFRA) for an exemption. The TRFRA allows certain medications to be for religious purposes.
TST’s Fundamental Tenets state that one’s body is subject to “one’s own will alone,” according to Channel 8 News:
‘The religion also believes that beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs.’
Charles Camosy, a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University, suggested that education was a factor in the high proportion of Catholic justices:
‘For many decades in the United States, Catholic schools were a much better option for serious students than were public schools, and in many cases still are. It is possible that this accounts for a disproportionate number of Catholics getting into very good colleges and then into very good law schools.’
Sara Hutchinson Ratcliffe, former president of Catholics for Choice, said she remained concerned:
‘As Catholics, certainly our faith helps us to form our conscience and our ideas and how we live our faith. But our religious beliefs should never be a substitute for impartial jurisprudence.’
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