PORTLAND – The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Friday affirmed a lower court’s decision to terminate the parental rights of a woman who claimed her case was harmed by references to her Wicca faith.

The woman argued that her rights to free exercise of religion were violated when it was mentioned that she was a Wiccan. She argued that Wicca was an “unusual and historically disfavored religion” and that references to “witchcraft” and “paganism” tainted the proceedings.

Wiccans describe their faith as a nature-based belief system that existed in Europe before Christianity.

In its unanimous ruling, the supreme court noted that the mother’s religion did not come up during the hearing that led to the termination of her parental rights or in the district judge’s order.

Justice Donald Alexander noted that Wicca was brought up at an earlier hearing, mostly by the mother’s own attorney. Alexander wrote that if the reference to Wicca at that hearing was problematic, the mother should have raised the issue before the final hearing.

“It was incumbent on her to bring any concern to the attention of the trial court and seek corrective action at [an earlier] stage. This was not done. The issue is not preserved,” he wrote.

The court also found more than sufficient evidence that the woman was not a fit parent. The court cited her deteriorating mental health, the poor conditions of the family’s home, her failure to engage in rehabilitation and the lack of proof that her situation was improving.

The Maine Department of Human Service took custody of the woman’s five children in November 1999 after learning of the squalid conditions in the family’s trailer in New Portland. The trailer did not have running water, sewage was dumped outside, garbage was strewn about and the interior filled with smoke because of a problem with the stovepipe.

There were also instances of physical violence, and the children weren’t enrolled in school.

DHS asked to stop reunification efforts after the parents failed to comply with the requirements of rehabilitation services and insisted that visits with the children should occur at their home. Neither parent attended a hearing in September 2000, and the court granted the state’s request.

In the following months, the parents began visiting their children again while DHS sought to terminate their parental rights.

At a hearing in February, a transcript which contained references to Wicca from the previous hearing was submitted without objections from any of the parties.

The following month, the court terminated the father and mother’s parental rights.