The head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm implored President-elect Donald Trump to quickly adopt pro-life positions and undo Biden administration executive orders shielding transgender people from discrimination when he takes office in January.
In a letter to Trump’s transition team dated Monday, SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President F. Brent Leatherwood outlined “five critical policy actions that reflect deeply held values for Southern Baptists and warrant the incoming administration’s immediate attention during President Trump’s first 100 days in office.”
Southern Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination in the country with nearly 13 million members and the largest Christian denomination in Alabama with 753,653 members and 3,164 Southern Baptist-affiliated churches in the state.
Leatherwood urged Trump to issue an executive order reaffirming support for the Hyde Amendment — a provision banning federal funds to be used for most abortions.
“By issuing an executive order committing to full enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, President Trump will usher in a renewed focus on protecting life and the deeply-held religious beliefs of taxpayers from government overreach,” Leatherwood wrote. “Such action should explicitly direct federal agencies to stop the funding of abortion-related travel and counseling for abortions through immediately ceasing such policies and implementing rulemaking as necessary.”
Early on in his second term, Trump should also revoke the executive order issued by President Biden expanding federal discrimination laws to include discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
“Such rulemaking was specifically crafted to circumvent the religious beliefs and conscience protections of millions of Americans regarding gender and sexuality, misuse taxpayer funds for ‘gender transitions,’ and promote radical gender ideology, even amongst children,” Leatherwood wrote.
“By undoing this harmful executive order,” he continued, “President Trump will reassure millions of Americans that they will not be targeted by the federal government simply for believing in biological realities or holding to their religious convictions.”
Trump should also reverse Biden’s memo that expanded access to the abortion pill mifepristone by allowing the medication to be dispensed through telemedicine and local pharmacies, according to Leatherwood.
“We eagerly anticipate the day when the abortion pill is recognized for the evil it is and prohibited,” he wrote, “and we encourage the President-elect to, at a minimum, swiftly reverse these changes made by the Biden administration.”
The suggested policies addressed in Leatherwood’s memo “represent positive opportunities to shape public policy in helpful and constructive ways at the outset of a second term that we believe merit strong consideration for inclusion in President Trump’s initial agenda.”
