Video: Satanic Temple Sues to Place Pro-Abortion Billboards in Arkansas, Indiana
The Satanic Temple has sued an advertising company that rejected pro-abortion billboards in Arkansas, Indiana.
Watch this video to learn more.
Satanic Temple Files Lawsuit to Place Pro-Abortion Billboards in Arkansas, Indiana
The Satanic Temple has filed a lawsuit against billboard company Lamar Advertising, according to a statement the organization released on Tuesday.
The Satanic Temple filed the lawsuit after Lamar rejected pro-abortion billboards the group wanted to place near pregnancy resource centers in Arkansas and Indiana
The Satanic Temple’s statement about the lawsuit includes copies of four different billboard designs the group says were rejected.
All four billboard designs claim that the Satanic Temple’s “religious abortion ritual averts many state restrictions” on abortion. One claims pregnancy complications are the sixth most common cause of death among women between the ages of 20 and 34, concluding that “abortions save lives.”
According to the statement, Lamar rejected the billboard designs for being “misleading and offensive.”
In August the Satanic Temple made a bizarre announcement declaring abortion a “religious ritual” in an apparent attempt to overturn state pro-life laws. The group filed a lawsuit in Missouri arguing that pro-life laws in that state violate Satanic Temple members’ religious liberties.
The Satanic Temple has used similar arguments about abortion and religious liberty unsuccessfully in past lawsuits.
In light of the fact that no court has ruled Satanic Temple members have any kind of religious right to an abortion, it’s more than fair for Lamar to reject the billboards for being misleading and offensive.
Unfortunately, the Satanic Temple has a history of stirring up controversy in Arkansas.
The group has opposed Arkansas’ privately funded monument honoring the Ten Commandments and is part of a lawsuit to have the monument removed from the capitol grounds.
In August of 2018 the group held a small protest in front of the state Capitol, and parked a flatbed trailer holding a 7½-foot statue of baphomet — a satanic figure — in front of the Capitol Building.
The Satanic Temple had previously threatened to put the baphomet monument on the capitol grounds itself. However, nothing ever came of the threat, because monuments require legislative approval.
It’s very telling that the Satanic Temple wants to put overtly pro-abortion billboards near pregnancy resource centers.
Pregnancy resource centers give women real options besides abortion.
Many of them provide everything from ultrasounds and pregnancy tests to maternity clothes and adoption referrals — typically free of charge. They often operate on very tight budgets, and they rely heavily on volunteers and donations.
Pregnancy resource centers play a vital role in the effort to end abortion in Arkansas.
Satanic Temple Intervening in Lawsuit Against AR Ten Commandments Monument
Yesterday U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker allowed the Satanic Temple to intervene in a lawsuit over the state’s monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas Capitol lawn.
In 2015 the Arkansas Legislature authorized the privately funded Ten Commandments monument that is identical to a monument the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional in Texas a few years ago.
However, last June the American Humanist Association and the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit against the state to have the monument removed. Now the Satanic Temple will be part of that lawsuit as well.
Both the Satanic Temple and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have made headlines recently over their efforts to oppose Christmas celebrations and displays.
In Ohio the Freedom From Religion Foundation successfully bullied a town into removing a Ten Commandments monument and a Nativity scene from public property.
In the Illinois capitol rotunda the Satanic Temple installed a temporary “Snaketivity” display that features a human hand holding an apple with a snake coiled around it. Beneath the statue read the words, “Knowledge Is The Greatest Gift.”
As we have said before, city, county, and state officials are free to celebrate Christmas. Courts also have ruled that the government can recognize the significant impact of the Ten Commandments down through the years.
We need to understand and appreciate the significance of the Ten Commandments — including their impact on our system government and their relevance to us still today. Unfortunately some groups seem determined to erase anything that acknowledges that significance from the public sphere.