WASHINGTON (BP) — The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) gathered a group of Southern Baptist pastors this week (May 14-15) for meetings with elected officials to discuss their policy priorities for Congressional budget reconciliation, including defunding Planned Parenthood.

ERLC staff convened a group of pastors from Alabama, Florida, South Dakota and Texas for the two-day advocacy trip which included meetings with senators and members of the House of Representatives, staff from the Trump administration, representatives from Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office and staff from other congressional offices.

In addition to these discussions over reconciliation priorities and other topics, ERLC staff and the participating pastors had the opportunity to pray for these elected leaders.

ERLC President Brent Leatherwood spoke to the significance of the trip.

“The ERLC exists to boldly proclaim truth in the public square while equipping pastors and churches on the issues of life, religious liberty, marriage and family and human dignity,” Leatherwood said. “We are deeply committed to standing alongside our SBC churches, ensuring that the gospel is advanced through faithful engagement in the public square.

“This week, we had the distinct honor of hosting a group of SBC pastors to meet with U.S. senators, representatives and the White House Faith Office, where we championed Southern Baptist policy priorities, including the urgent call to defund Planned Parenthood. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to bring the truth and hope of the gospel to Capitol Hill.”

Mike Orr, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Chipley, Fla., and president of the Florida Baptist Convention, was one of the trip participants and said it is important for pastors to be a voice for biblical truth.

“As Southern Baptist pastors, we have a divine mandate to shepherd the flock of God,” Orr said. “In addition, we have a responsibility to be a public voice advocating for truth.

“We had the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussion with some of the nation’s top leaders about issues most important to Southern Baptist. These issues, such as the sanctity and dignity of human life, religious liberty and marriage and family, stem from biblical truth. We pray that our voices and presence will lead to legislation that honors and protects these sacred values and freedoms on which this nation was founded.”

This pastors’ advocacy trip was intentionally planned to take place during the budget reconciliation period, a crucially important time which provides a unique opportunity to advocate for Southern Baptist policy priorities.

Reconciliation is the legislative process by which Congress can evaluate their budget and make changes such as revising debt limits, addressing federal spending and adjusting tax policy.

The significance of a budget reconciliation bill is that it lowers the vote threshold to move forward with a vote or “invoke cloture” in the Senate from 60 members to a simple majority of 51. Under the current breakdown of Congress, a budget reconciliation bill could pass both chambers of Congress without needing support from any Democrats.

The ERLC has a list of six pro-life, pro-family policy priorities for this reconciliation bill which include:

• Defunding Planned Parenthood
• Removing financial barriers for choosing life
• Improving the Adoption Tax Credit
• Reducing marriage penalties, which disincentivize marriage in federal tax law
• Supporting pregnancy resource centers
• Supporting a Universal Charitable Deduction, which would encourage charitable giving

As these priorities were discussed with elected leaders, a particular focus was put on defunding Planned Parenthood, a long-held goal for Southern Baptists and currently the ERLC’s highest legislative priority.

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, receives at least $700 million in federal funding annually, essentially subsidizing the abortions for thousands.

As part of these talks, the ERLC hand-delivered the initial 10,000 signatures for the ERLC’s campaign to defund Planned Parenthood to Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL). Leatherwood handed Britt a printed copy of the ERLC’s letter with these signatures as a symbol of the consensus of Southern Baptists and pro-life Americans on this issue.

The ERLC’s campaign was launched in February, and the ERLC’s letter has been signed by more than 25,000 Southern Baptists and other pro-lifers. Leatherwood and other Southern Baptist leaders were the first signatures to appear on the document, and signatures continued to be added daily.  

The budget reconciliation process is expected to last into the summer months.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Timothy Cockes is news editor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.)