Cosmopolitan Promotes ‘Satanic Abortion’ Ceremonies
Progressive pop-culture magazine Cosmopolitan published a lengthy piece in November about the political “wins” scored by The Satanic Temple’s (TST) abortion clinic, vindictively named after Supreme Court Justice Samual Alito’s mom.
TST’s “Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic” is located in New Mexico, but prescribes abortion pills to women around the country via its Telehealth clinic, which mails the abortion-inducing drug to would-be expecting mothers.
The Cosmo piece begins by examining what might have been if Justice Alito’s mother had access to “safe and legal” abortion while she was carrying her son. “[W]hat if her circumstances had been different—if her own life had been endangered by the pregnancy or if the fetus had a fatal anomaly or if Rose simply hadn’t been ready for a child? What if she’d had a choice and access to safe, legal abortion care?” the writer asked. Justice Sam Alito notoriously authored the conservative majority opinion overturning Roe V. Wade, which condemned the legality of Roe as “egregiously wrong from the start.”
“The staff prescribes abortion pills (at $91 per set, a competitive price) up until the eleventh week of pregnancy and offers 24/7 phone access to licensed medical personnel to anyone in need,” the Cosmo piece explains.
Chemical abortions are conducted using the drug Mifepristone, a synthetic steroid that blocks the naturally produced hormone progesterone, preventing the fetus from receiving any nutrition, and ultimately starves the unborn human until it passes away inside the mother’s womb. Once the unborn child is no longer viable, the second pill is taken to induce cramping, and bleeding, and ultimately expel the aborted fetus.
The FDA has been criticized in the past for its approval of Mifepristone, noting that the approval process would have required the administration to classify pregnancy as an “illness” to attain drug approval. The Cosmo article did not detail the process by which the medication induces abortion, nor did it include the risks associated with taking abortion pills without medical oversight.
The writers at Cosmo raved on about TST’s “guerrilla street theater,” specifically citing one incident in which “temple members wearing adult diapers and baby masks disrupted a Christian-led anti-abortion protest with a BDSM stunt that involved flogging one another with whips, which one TST member said was a commentary on the Christian right’s “fetishization of the fetal image.”
Cosmo then addressed TST’s attempt to work around various state laws limiting or prohibiting abortion, plainly stating, “TST is a religion.”
“Unlike other abortion-pill-by-mail providers like Hey Jane or Abuzz, TST is a religion,” the Cosmo article explains. “Meaning its patients, who don’t have to be Satanists themselves, are participating in a religious ritual. That’s a key legal distinction TST hopes to leverage in its historic push to expand its clinic model beyond New Mexico—into states where abortion is otherwise banned.”
TST offers pregnant women “optional ceremonial aspects of the Satanic abortion ritual” which is little more than a distortion and mockery of the Christian belief and practice of taking communion. Slides depicting the “ritual” also feature upside-down crosses.
“First, you find a quiet space. Bring a mirror if you can. Just before taking the medication, gaze at your reflection and focus on your personhood. Home in on your intent, your responsibility to you. Take a few deep, relaxing breaths. When you’re ready, read the following tenet aloud: One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone. Take the medication and immediately afterward, recite, 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. Later, once your body expels the aborted tissue, return to your reflection. Focus again on your personhood, your power in making this decision. Complete the ritual by reciting a personal affirmation: By my body, my blood; by my will, it is done.“
Cosmopolitan
Lila Rose, the founder of Live Action, a pro-life nonprofit organization, lambasted the Cosmopolitan piece, posting on X “It has become a common practice of The Satanic Temple to protest abortion bans on grounds of ‘religious freedom.’ They have sued Missouri, Texas, Indiana, and New Mexico for passing laws that prevent them from performing their abortion rituals.” She added that “some write this off as political theater, real witches have affirmed that abortion is a part of their religious practices.” Her post referenced a video that has recently gained national attention of a self-described “witch” who views abortion as a “magical ritual.”
Cosmopolitan brands itself as the “biggest young women’s media brand in the world” that is in an ongoing “intimate relationship” with its readers — who in return receive questionable life advice and blatant advertisements for statism. In addition to receiving glowing reviews from magazines like Cosmopolitan, the TST is also listed on a taxpayer-funded New Mexico abortion hotline, instituted by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. The hotline connects women with abortion clinics — one of which being TST’s “Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic”
