LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

American Politics Journal article
Does the Religious Freedom Restoration Act protect the Church of Reality from South Dakota's abortion ban?

The Church of Reality has today issued an edict declaring that South Dakota's ban on abortions violates the rights of its members to practice their religion and calls upon the state to provide an exception to the law for members of the Church of Reality to be able to get abortions, and to provide immunity from prosecution to health care professionals who would provide abortions to church members.

The Church of Reality has taken a strong pro-choice position when it comes to abortion, declaring that a woman has an absolute right to choose not to reproduce if she doesn't want to.

"This abortion ban is in direct conflict with several of our Sacred Principles," declares Marc Perkel, the First One of the Church of Reality. "Our religious freedom is at stake here."

On February 21st, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act allowing a religion to use a prohibited drug Hoasca, a hallucinogen containing DMT, a Schedule 1 drug prohibited by federal law under the Controlled Substances Act. This ruling declared that religious freedom take president over law in cases what the law creates a "substantial burden" on a "sincerely held religious belief". Under the RFRA the government has to demonstrate a "compelling government interest" in order to overcome the substantial burden test. This ruling opened the door to allow the Church of Reality to challenge the State of South Dakota on the basis that this law is unconstitutional as applied to members of the Church of Reality and health care workers who would provide abortion services to church members.

"We are starting the process today by putting South Dakota on notice and asking for them to voluntarily cooperate with us to provide our membership with a religious exemption to this law. If they fail to comply, we will see them in court."

Church of Reality demands religious exception to South Dakota Abortion Ban Law
The decision of the State of South Dakota to ban all abortions puts a substantial burden on the sincerely held beliefs of the Church of Reality which believes that a woman has an absolute right to an early term abortion without any outside restrictions. The right of a woman to control her own reproduction is vital to the advancement of society which is necessary to advance the cause of exploring reality the way it really is.

This law violates several of the Sacred Principles including but not limited to, the Principle of Freedom, Principle of Privacy, Principle of Positive Evolution, Principle of Inclusiveness, Principle of Compassion, Principle of Environmentalism, Principle of Personal Responsibility and the Principle of Wisdom. We cannot grow as a society where the government can command our women to bear children against their will. We are a fiercely independent and individualistic religion that places great sanctity on the value of personal choice which includes one of the most personal of all decisions, the decision of bearing children.

BTW: Per the site, "The IRS has approved the 501(C)3 tax exempt status of the Church of Reality."