SEATTLE, WA – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by The Satanic Temple against Idaho officials over the state’s abortion laws, citing lack of legal standing.
The Satanic Temple, a religious association with members in Idaho, argued that the state’s abortion restrictions violated its members’ rights under several constitutional provisions, including the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The group also sought to stop the enforcement of Idaho laws against what it described as “Involuntarily Pregnant Women” and against the organization in providing medical abortions.
In its ruling, the three-judge panel found that the group had not shown that any of its members had suffered, or would imminently suffer, a concrete injury as a result of Idaho’s laws. The court noted that the organization’s sole telehealth abortion clinic operates in New Mexico, has no licensed Idaho physicians, and had not identified any Idaho resident who sought its abortion services.
The court also rejected the argument that The Satanic Temple had organizational standing based on the resources it spent opening the New Mexico clinic or claims that Idaho law frustrated its mission. The panel ruled that such expenditures and generalized mission impacts were insufficient to establish standing under recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
While the Ninth Circuit agreed with the district court that the case should be dismissed, it sent the matter back to determine whether the dismissal should be without prejudice, which would leave the door open for a potential refiling if deficiencies could be addressed.
The case is The Satanic Temple v. Labrador, No. 24-1243.
