A federal court has officially dismissed a lawsuit brought by The Satanic Temple against Idaho’s abortion regulation law, bringing an end to three years of litigation.
U.S. District Judge David Nye ruled Nov. 10 that The Satanic Temple’s arguments against the state’s Defense of Life Act were legally unsound, according to a press release from Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office. Nye also said that no amendment to the suit would be able to save it and dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be reinstated even if the group modifies its complaint.
As CatholicVote previously reported, The Satanic Temple sued Labrador over the law in 2022 and “claimed the law violated its ‘right’ to practice ritualistic abortions for so-called ‘religious’ purposes.” Nye had dismissed the case with prejudice in 2024, saying that the group’s claims lacked merit. However, the group took the suit to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
According to the release, the appeals court ruled that the group lacked standing but returned the case to Nye and asked him to decide whether an amendment to the suit could save it. The release stated that Nye’s ruling “made clear no amendment could fix The Satanic Temple’s legal arguments.”
“Idaho’s pro-life laws protect both mothers and unborn children, and this decision confirms those protections are constitutionally sound,” Labrador stated in the release. “The Satanic Temple’s attempt to manufacture constitutional violations out of disagreement with Idaho’s values has been rejected at every level.”
Labrador added, “We’ve defended Idaho’s laws through every stage of this litigation, and we will continue protecting the right of Idaho’s elected representatives to defend life.”
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