The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission released a letter Jan. 16 calling for President Trump’s action on recent issues that have brought friction between the pro-life movement and an administration historically supportive of it.
The letter is signed by interim ERLC president Gary Hollingsworth, who begins by stating that the sanctity of life “remains a preeminent priority” among millions of Southern Baptists, who, coincidentally, observed Sanctity of Life Sunday Jan. 18.
Trump’s terms in the White House have been consequential for the pro-life movement, to say the least. Shortly after taking office last year, he enforced the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funding of abortions. He reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy. Perhaps most of all, the appointment of three pro-life Supreme Court justices in his first term led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Last week, however, the president said conservative Republicans need to be “flexible” regarding Hyde during across-the-aisle negotiations over health care. Hyde has factored in debates on Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired last year. Conservatives, of course, didn’t like the idea, which led the White House to walk back the president’s comments.
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved another generic abortion drug last fall. Chemical abortions account for 63 percent of all abortions, per a 2023 study by the Guttmacher Institute.
Recently, it was revealed that the Department of Health and Human Services quietly released tens of millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood through Title X that had been withheld since last spring as part of a move by lawmakers to defund abortion providers for at least one year. Trump told reporters he was unaware of those disbursements.
Hollingsworth described the Hyde Amendment as “not up for debate.”
“It is impossible to ignore the ripple effects of comments indicating that lawmakers should be ‘flexible’ on pro-life protections,” he said. “This matters to Southern Baptists because these health care subsidies are paid for by taxpayer funding, and no taxpayer’s conscience should be violated by being forced — even indirectly — to pay for abortions.”
He added that Southern Baptists are “greatly troubled” by the FDA’s decision to approve a generic for Mifepristone, the widely used abortifacient.
“At a bare minimum, in-person dispensing requirements should be reinstated, as should common-sense safety restrictions that prioritize not just the life of the child, but also the life of the mother,” Hollingsworth said, pointing to studies that the drug brings an adverse reaction 22 times more often than the FDA recognizes.
“Safety issues abound, but so do moral ones,” he said.
Funding released to Planned Parenthood is “counterintuitive” after considering the large-scale defunding of the country’s largest abortion provider, Hollingsworth said.
“We understand that legal considerations may complicate the course of action in stripping abortion providers of their federal funding, but you, Mr. President, have never backed down from a fight, and now is the time to fight for life,” he wrote. “We urge vigilance in ensuring this historic progress is not lost.”
Hollingsworth, other ERLC staffers and several Southern Baptist pastors plan to be in Washington Friday, Jan. 23, for the annual March for Life.
A presidential proclamation issued Jan. 16 in the name of national security could also indirectly affect international adoptions, very much a part of the pro-life movement.
Visas used on behalf of children and infants entering the U.S. from countries the administration has deemed to have “persistent, chronic vetting deficiencies” are no longer categorical exemptions. Several African countries are on the list, in addition to others like Haiti and Iran.
Mile Mullin, ERLC executive vice president and chief of staff, urged the president to reconsider the ramifications for children needing a home. Mullin also asked for the issue to remain a matter of prayer.
“Right now, thousands of Southern Baptists are standing ready to adopt children in need of a home. Some of them are in the very last stages of that process and now find the door closed,” he said. “This is tragic. But it can be fixed.
“We would respectfully ask the administration to find a way to double down on life and figure out a way to unite these faithful Southern Baptist families — and others like them — with their children.”
— Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.