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Editor’s note: Our July TEXAN reported that SBC messengers in Nashville took the unusual action of bringing a resolution from the floor and then passing an edited version. An SBTC church minister has asked for the opportunity to speak in support of the resolution.
I am blessed to have been a co-author of the resolution “On Abortion Abolition” which was affirmed at the annual meeting in Nashville on June 16. It is a good resolution. It is the most biblically accurate and ethically consistent statement on the issue of abortion made by any denomination since 1973, or before.
Gospel-Centered-As Great Commission Baptists, our primary concern is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The pro-life movement always says that we must “change hearts to change minds.” I agree. However, classes on sidewalk ministry at abortion mills usually ignore the gospel altogether. Their reasoning on the front lines of battle is too often humanistic and secular. We are told we cannot call abortion “murder,” we should avoid the word “sin,” and our arguments should be devoid of biblical content and the gospel. They reason that our culture does not respond to a biblical argument; therefore, we should reason like secularists in this fight.
A question for my pro-life friends: What do you have that works better than the gospel of Jesus Christ to change hearts and minds? My Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Is there anything more powerful?
It was pro-lifers’ inability to answer these questions that made me an abolitionist, not just at the murder mills, but also at the legislatures.
Bible-Centered-Secular humanism has also influenced the writing of pro-life legislation.
The government has the role and responsibility of bearing the sword against those who do evil (Romans 13:3-4). If Southern Baptist pastors support pro-life legislation that does not call upon the civil magistrates to provide equal justice, and therefore equal protection, for life in the womb, they commit a category error. The argument against legislation that would criminalize everyone involved in aborting a precious baby is based on pseudo-compassion. The error is seeking to use the government to do what only the church can do: minister grace. The church must call on the government to impartially enforce the existing laws in our state on murder.
An Example-In 2019, an abortion abolition bill (TX HB 896) came to a Texas House committee hearing in Austin chaired by pro-life Republican and Southern Baptist, Rep. Jeff Leach (Plano). The hearing lasted until after 3:00 AM the next day with more than 300 Texans and expert witnesses testifying in FAVOR of the bill. No other bill had as many supporters in that legislative session. Rep. Leach, a few hours later, killed the bill in the name of compassion. This is all documented in our film, Babies Are Still Murdered Here.
In 2019, more than 56,000 babies were murdered in Texas (that we know about, not counting online pill abortions or emergency pregnancy pills sold at nearly every pharmacy and big box retailer in Texas).
At the 2020 March for Life in Austin, on the steps of the Capitol, the Texas Alliance for Life presented Rep. Leach with a pro-life hero award for protecting lives of the unborn because he sponsored a bill protecting babies who are born alive during an abortion, an exceedingly rare occurrence in a state where abortions are supposed to be prohibited after 20 weeks. In effect, Rep. Leach said to the preborn babies of Texas, “Good luck, kid.”
Can you see why we say that pro-life strategy is not just? If HB 896 had been passed into law in 2019, the children sacrificed since then would be alive today. In Texas alone, that’s around 140,000 slaughtered, innocent, preborn children.
As the resolution states, “We reject any position that allows for any exceptions to the legal protection of our preborn neighbors, compromises God’s holy standard of justice, or promotes any God-hating partiality.” We are sinfully partial when we offer protections for some babies but not all.
Some SBC academics who have critiqued the resolution have cringed because the document calls into question pro-life efforts. Here are my questions for them: “Is the life in the womb human?” “Does that life deserve equal protection under the law?”
After almost 49 years of child sacrifice under the color of law, isn’t it time that we call on our legislators to END it rather than regulate when, where, and how it may be done in Texas? We must demand pro-life groups, lobbyists, and politicians stop opposing bills that treat abortion as murder and begin supporting equal justice for the human life inside of the womb as well as outside. The church must arise with a unified, prophetic voice and demand the immediate and complete end of child sacrifice, without compromise.
This resolution is a tool to equip your congregation. Please use it.
Jon Speed is pastor of missions and evangelism at FBC Briar, in Azle. You can see the resolution approved by messengers at sbc.net.
