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Satanic Temple opens online abortion clinic named after Samuel Alito’s mother
Satanic Temple opens online abortion clinic named after Samuel Alito’s mother
The Satanic Temple has announced the launch of an online abortion clinic, offering telehealth screenings and appointments and prescribing abortion medication for patients who want to take part in its “religious abortion ritual.”
The group, which describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organisation” and is not to be confused with the Church of Satan, said it hopes to expand the clinics into states that have restricted abortions in the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling that ended Roe v Wade.
The Temple has named the initiative “The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic,” in reference to the conservative Justice who wrote the majority opinion that overturned the abortion rights case that had been the law of the land since 1973.
“In 1950, Samuel Alito’s mother did not have options, and look what happened,” said Malcolm Jarry, co-founder of The Satanic Temple.
“Prior to 1973, doctors who performed abortions could lose their licenses and go to jail. The clinic’s name serves to remind people just how important it is to have the right to control one’s body and the potential ramifications of losing that right,” he added.
The Temple, which claims to have over 700,000 members, described the programme as the “world’s first religious abortion clinic.” Patients pay a pharmacy for the medication, but medical and religious services are free, it added. The patients must be in New Mexico at the time of the visit and have a New Mexico mailing address.
The clinic currently has five registered nurses on staff each week, all registered in New Mexico, and an advanced nurse practitioner who prescribes medication.
Based in Salem, Massachusetts, the Temple deploys irony-laced legal action and publicity stunts to highlight the intrusion of religion into public life, using religious laws in the United States to fight against restrictions on access to abortion.
Last year, it sued Indiana and Idaho in federal court, arguing that the state’s abortion bans infringe on the rights of members.
The lawsuit contends that a pregnant woman is entitled to terminate her pregnancy in accordance with the temple’s Tenet III — “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone” — and its “Satanic Abortion Ritual,” which includes “a personal affirmation that is ceremoniously intertwined with the abortion,” it explains on its website.
The Temple cites the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to argue that the ritual exempts its members “from enduring medically unnecessary and unscientific regulations when seeking to terminate their pregnancy.”
The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic drew condemnation from Catholic groups even before its launch. In a joint statement issued on 7 February, the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops said: The last thing we need in our state is a Satanic temple from Massachusetts to offer free ‘reproductive health’ services (read abortion).”
“We shudder to think what the ‘Religious Abortion Ritual’ that they require is all about,” the statement, which was signed by Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces and Bishop James Wall of Gallup, among others.
Speaking to The Independent on the morning of its launch, Chalice Blythe, minister of Satan at the Temple, said the clinic is part of a long tradition of using existing statutes to ensure the equal application of religious laws.
”It’s how we’ve done things historically, whether it’s bodily autonomy or abortion access. We are simply utilising religious protection for us to have free exercise of our religion,” she told The Independent. ”There are laws and restrictions that are constantly passed that deny us the ability to free exercise,” she added. “Any legal action we take is to protect our ability to practice our faith.”
Erin Helian, the Temple’s religious reproductive rights director, told The Independent that the naming of Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic was “pretty deliberate.”
“It was something we had been considering for some time in order to highlight the injustices that came from Justice Alito’s decisions and how it impacts our bodily autonomy,” she said.
Despite the humour in the name, she said that the Temple’s work is deeply serious.
“There's always a concern that our humour is mistaken for a lack of seriousness. However, when it comes to things like the clinic, I know that our work is going to speak for itself. I know the number of people we're going to be able to help with this, especially when we move into other states. Eventually, the work will speak for itself,” she said.
Portugal church sex abuse study finds 512 alleged victims
Portugal church sex abuse study finds 512 alleged victims
A committee examining historic child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church says 512 alleged victims have come forward.
Senior church officials had previously claimed that only a handful of cases had occurred.
The Independent Committee for the Study of Child Abuse in the Catholic Church, set up by Portuguese bishops just over a year ago, looked into alleged cases from 1950 onward. The panel produced its final report Monday. Portuguese bishops are due to discuss the report next month.
The statute of limitations has expired on most of the alleged cases. Only 25 allegations were passed to prosecutors, the panel said.
The report came four years after Pope Francis gathered church leaders from around the world at the Vatican to address the sex abuse crisis in the church. That meeting was held more than 30 years after the scandal first erupted in Ireland and Australia and 20 years after it hit the United States.
Bishops and other Catholic superiors in many parts of Europe at the time continued to deny that clergy sex abuse existed or insisted on giving little weight to the problem.
Pedro Strecht, a psychiatrist who headed the panel in Portugal, said it estimates the true number of victims during the period is at least 4,415. He didn't explain how the extrapolation was made.
The panel is not publishing the names of the victims, the identities of the alleged abusers, or the places the abuses allegedly happened. However, it is to send to bishops by the end of the month a list of alleged abusers who are still active in the church.
The final report includes a separate – and confidential – annexe of all the names of church members reported to the committee that is being sent to the Portuguese Bishops Conference and to the police.
The Portuguese church hasn’t said whether it intends to pay compensation to any victims.
The report said that 77 per cent of the abusers were priests, with other perpetrators being linked to church institutions.
It said 48 per cent of those who came forward had spoken about the abuse for the first time. Most of the alleged victims were male, though 47 per cent were female, the report said.
It said there were places in Portugal, such as some seminaries and religious institutions, that were “real blackspots” for abuse.
The panel recommended that the statute of limitations on such crimes be extended to at least 30 years from the current 23 years.
Ramadan 2023: When is it and what does it celebrate?
Ramadan 2023: When is it and what does it celebrate?
The blessed month of Ramadan, a time of reflection, contemplation, and celebration for Muslims all over the world, is almost here.
The annual observance of this special month is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and commemorates Muhammad’s first revelation.
The Islamic calendar is based on lunar cycles, unlike our Gregorian calendar, so the exact dates of Ramadan change every year.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Ramadan, including what the special occasion is all about and when it will be celebrated.
What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is held during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is a time for spiritual reflection, acts of charity, and spending time with loved ones.
Ramadan remembers the month the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The night the Quran was revealed is known as Lailut ul-Qadr (‘The Night of Power’).
Throughout the Ramadan period, adult Muslims of able body and mind start their day fasting, with a pre-dawn meal known as ‘suhur’.
The fasting involves abstaining from eating, drinking, and sexual intimacy until sunset.
Many observers also choose to stay away from smoking, taking medicine, and chewing gum during this time.
Those who are acutely or chronically ill, diabetic, menstruating, breastfeeding, or pregnant are not expected to fast, as well as children who haven’t hit puberty yet and the elderly.
During this time, studying the Quran, donating money to the needy, and committing more time to prayers are encouraged.
The fasting period concludes after sunset with a meal called “iftar”, which sees families and friends come together around the dinner table.
When is Ramadan 2023?
As the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle, Ramadan rotates by approximately 10 days each year.
This year, Ramadan begins on the evening of Wednesday, March 22, and concludes on Friday, April 21.
When is Eid al Fitr 2023?
Eid al-Fitr is a festival that marks the end of Ramadan.
This year, it is set to begin on the evening of Friday, April 21, and will last until the evening of Saturday, April 22.
What is Eid al-Adha and when does it start?
Eid al-Adha, also known as the Greater Eid, is regarded as the second-most important festival in the Muslim calendar.
Observed by Muslims around the world, it marks the culmination of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorates Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his son in order to obey God, but was stopped by God who provided him with an animal to sacrifice instead.
To commemorate this, Muslims feast on an animal but will divide it into three parts. They give one part to the poor and those in need, one part to friends, and keep one part to have with their family.
This year, Eid al-Adha will be held between Wednesday, June 28 and Sunday, July 2.
Pope lands in South Sudan to urge peace as fighting kills 27
Pope lands in South Sudan to urge peace as fighting kills 27
Pope Francis has arrived in South Sudan for the second and final leg of his African pilgrimage, seeking to encourage the young country’s stalled peace process.
South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, greeted Francis at the international airport in the capital, Juba, as thousands ululated and sang in 35.5C heat.
The airport road was lined with Christians, Muslims and traditional dancers waving Vatican, South Sudanese and British flags. Some wore T-shirts with a portrait of the pope.
“The pope is closest to God,” Poni Jadalla, 45, said as she waited to welcome Francis.
“Let the pope give us peace so that this country can develop and no more bloodshed.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Iain Greenshields, are joining Francis in South Sudan for a novel ecumenical push for peace.
Together, the three represent the religious leadership of the overwhelmingly Christian country, the world’s youngest, which gained independence from the majority Muslim Sudan in 2011 but has been beset by civil war and conflict.
The Christian leaders are aiming to give a joint call for South Sudan’s political leaders to put aside their differences and work for the good of their people.
Continued fighting, including attacks this week in the south that killed 27 people, has displaced some two million people and hampered implementation of a 2018 peace deal, but residents said the arrival of Francis gave them hope.
“The pope will bring us peace,” said Monica Lado, a 40-year-old from Juba, on the eve of the three leaders’ arrival.
Francis travelled to South Sudan from Congo, where he had a final appointment on Friday in Kinshasa with Congo’s bishops.
On Thursday, the pope received an enthusiastic response at a stadium event where he encouraged young people to work for a peaceful and honest future.
A group of about 80 Catholics from South Sudan’s central city of Rumbek walked for nine days, covering an estimated 190 miles, and arrived in Juba to cheers on Thursday.
The pilgrims were sore, tired and had blisters, but said they hoped to attend Francis’ big Mass on Sunday and take back blessings to their homes and families.
“As the pope is coming, I believe what was killing us will stop,” said a smiling Victoria Yar, 58, as she sat in a plastic chair to rest after the long journey.
Another pilgrim on the trek, Mary Yom, a mother of eight, lost two children to violence.
“Our country is being destroyed by the conflict and we hope that the pope is coming with peace, and no one will be killed again,” she said.
Francis and Mr Welby first announced plans to visit South Sudan in 2017, but security concerns repeatedly thwarted the trip.
In an effort to move the process forward, Francis presided in 2019 over a joint prayer in the Vatican and famously got down on hands and knees and kissed the feet of South Sudan’s rival leaders, begging them to make peace.
But fighting continues, evidence of the violence that simmers in communities at times awash with arms and ethnic tensions in one of the world’s poorest countries.
At least 27 people were killed this week in Central Equatoria state’s Kajo-keji, in the latest communal violence between cattle herders and other residents.
Kajo-keji county commissioner Phanuel Dumo called the attack “barbaric” and urged calm.
Overall, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) this week reported an influx of wounded patients in recent months due to renewed clashes across the country.
“We see terrible injuries, and often airlifting patients from remote areas is the only way to save their lives,” said ICRC Juba delegation head Pierre Dorbes.
In comments on local Eye Radio on Thursday, South Sudan’s president vowed the country would never go back to war as long as he was in power.
“The coming of the Holy Father to South Sudan is your prayers that have brought him,” Mr Kiir said.
But part of the stall in implementing the peace accord is continued political friction between Mr Kiir and deputy Riek Machar, who led opposition forces during the country’s civil war and has long been interested in holding power himself.
Lack of political will has been cited by critics for the slow implementation of the deal in a country also hampered by alleged widespread official corruption.
In Juba, Francis is widely expected to repeat his call for both men and all parties in South Sudan to commit to making progress on the accord.
Already, delays forced the postponement of the country’s first presidential election for another two years.
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