With women's reproductive rights being under assault by religious extremist lawmakers, how likely to succeed is the Satanic Temple with their ploy by declaring abortion to be a religious ritual, and thus gain an exemption under freedom of religion?

Well, you can let your already-born children die from a lack of medical treatment under the banner of religious freedom, so I don’t see why not. This country has a long history of saying you can do almost anything if it’s construed as religious freedom.

It certainly could be argued with everything that is going now. I doubt it would win. The child can’t consent and once born the child is protected under our laws.

@Demosthenes Courts often interfere and force medical treatment for children.

In New York, if a child is medically neglected, the child can be removed from the parents and placed in foster care, too.

But is that an assault on religious freedom? How far can religious freedom extend? I think extending it to abortion sounds ridiculous, but there are certainly those who would argue that they shouldn’t be compelled to seek medical treatment (or specific treatments) for their children if their religion teaches against it.

Abortion is a red herring here – not really relevant.

You could make the same argument for voluntary human sacrifice. Think of the Bible – Genesis 22, where God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son.

What could be more religiously relevant than a command from God?

Human sacrifice should be protected!

I’m very skeptical that would be supported in the US.

Religious freedom and the government is complicated with many grey areas.

The Old Testiment requires adulteresses to drink an abortifacient. It’s certainly arguable that not doing so is against the will of God.

Have at it. But what you are doing is making government funds unavailable to pay for any of it.

Given the propaganda power of the right wing machine, I’m not sure having a group of satanists declaring abortion to be a religious practice is the best way to advance the cause. Will they win? At the Supreme Court, I doubt it. It might even backfire and carve out more space for fetal rights as superceding objections of conscience or religion.