Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt praised the state Supreme Court's decision, saying the law is "a commonsense measure designed to protect women from undue pressure and coercion during the sensitive decision of whether or not to have an abortion."
"Judy Doe," another self-professed adherent of the Satanic Temple, has filed a different challenge to Missouri's informed consent requirement for abortion in a case pending in federal court. She is also represented by McNaughton.
The temple, based in Salem, Mass., was founded by self-described atheists who profess disbelief in a literal Satan.
While the Satanic Temple currently appears to support legal abortion, a previous version of its beliefs lacked the relevant tenet. According to a March 2013 cache of its website at the Internet Archive, it previously claimed "all life is precious in the eyes of Satan" and "the Circle of Compassion should extend to all species, not just humans."
At present the Satanic Temple website rejects claims that media attention is its primary object, or that it is a hoax or trolling. At its origins, however, are credible reports indicating it was launched for a mockumentary, with several of its founders having a background in film and entertainment.
In a July 22, 2014 Village Voice article, former Satanic Temple collaborator Shane Bugbee said he at first saw the group as a prank and "a joke on the public at large and, in general, the grossly inept media."
He said the group's purpose seemed to shift quickly, from an initial effort to make a mockumentary about satanism to "a real religious sect." He contended that the group was exploiting Satanism while engaging in social climbing and "slick psychological marketing tricks."
Satanic Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves, whose real name is Douglas Mesner, contended that Bugbee had quit working for the group over a financial dispute. He said that his effort is "a mission… especially for me." Mesner said the group planned to leverage the Supreme Court's 2014 Hobby Lobby religious freedom decision to advance "a women's rights initiative."
In a 2013 interview with Vice, Mesner said a friend had conceived the Satanic Temple as "a 'poison pill' in the Church-State debate" to help expand the idea of religious agendas in public life.
"So at the inception, the political message was primary," he said, contending that the group has "moved well beyond being a simple political ploy and into being a very sincere movement that seeks to separate religion from superstition and to contribute positively to our cultural dialogue."
Other initiatives by the Satanic Temple include efforts to place satanic statues on the grounds of government buildings and claims of planning black mass re-enactments.
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The Satanic Temple has crowdfunded expenses to help pay for a Missouri woman's abortion, though it is unclear whether this was linked to the legal cases. It has also crowdfunded its "reproductive rights" campaign, gathering over $45,000 by July 2015.