This month, The Satanic Temple announced its second telehealth abortion city, which will open in Virginia and provide what it describes as “religious abortion services,” where the killing of unborn babies is a step in its “destruction ritual.”

The Satanic Temple (TST), not to be mistaken with the Church of Satan, is a self described “religious organization” headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts. TST hosts two virtual satanic temple services a week and connects members with TST congregations across the U.S. and the globe.

Named “Right to Your Life Satanic Abortion Clinic,” TST’s new 24/7 telehealth abortion facility will be free of charge, like its first clinic, with patients “only needing to cover the cost of medication through a third party at a very low price.”

The organization also claims it will help pay for some travel-related expenses, it claimed in a recent press release.

On its website, TST describes abortion as a “religious abortion ritual,” and claims members will be protected from “medically unnecessary and unscientific regulations.”

When a patient requests an abortion, or as TST calls it, a “destruction ritual,” they will read or listen to the stories of pro-abortion advocates to “subdue any stigmas” they might feel.

Then, they will recite two TST tenets. One reads, “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.”

Then, the patient will recite the personal affirmation, “By my body, my blood. By my will, it is done.”

In an interview with The Christian Post (CP), Erin Helian, the executive director of TST, revealed that the group received funding from donors, which allowed it to open the second, Virginia based clinic.

Additionally, while TST will operate its telehealth clinics alone, the group does partner with online pharmacy Honey Bee Health to provide medications like the abortion pill.

“Our staff virtually meet with each patient over a series of online visits to ensure the safety of each patient, including follow up meetings,” Helian told CP. “Our staff thoroughly discusses the potential risks with each patient, and for this reason, we urge each patient to know where their closest medical facility may be located in the unlikely event that complications may arise.”

She expanded, “We do not agree with the notion that telehealth care puts patients at risk. Instead, we argue that by expanding care and access, telehealth clinics, like ours, can save lives.” 

Further, when CP inquired about how TST advises mothers to dispose of their babies’ remains following chemical abortions, which induce miscarriages, Helian did not answer.

“Instead, she asserted that most chemical abortions occur before 11 to 12 weeks, which she said results in “heavy bleeding” that she likened to a period. She added that most women will take time to recover by wearing a pad,” CP reported.

However, miscarriages, even at as early as three to five weeks into pregnancy, can last hours and cause excruciating pain and excessive bleeding.

Further, multiple pro-life advocacy groups caution women that ordering chemical abortions online can put their health in jeopardy.

“Among their concerns is the lack of an in-person consultation with a doctor to learn how far along they are or determine if the woman’s pregnancy is ectopic,” CP states.

The abortion pill regimen, which involves taking two drugs by mouth or through vagina—mifepristone, to end the pregnancy, and misoprostol, to empty the uterus—causes uncomfortable side effects and may pose serious health risks.

According to Cleveland Clinic, risks of medical abortion include failure to end the pregnancy or retained pregnancy tissue; hemorrhaging that won’t stop; diarrhea and digestive pain; allergic reactions and infections, among other effects.

TST calls abortion a religious right, and in protest of the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the organization opened its first “religious abortion clinic” in New Mexico in Feb. 2023.

The clinic is named the Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic, a stab at conservative powerhouse Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who delivered the ruling that overturned Roe. 

Since it opened, it has offered some 100 abortions to women across New Mexico for an average cost of $91.