Each of the ERLC agenda’s four categories begins with an excerpt from The Baptist Faith and Message. Among the 39 items in the 2023 agenda are:
- Opposition to the Equality Act, legislation that would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the classifications protected in federal civil rights law. The legislation “represents the most significant threat to religious liberty ever considered” by Congress, Leatherwood and Daniel wrote. It would “ultimately steamroll the consciences of millions of Americans,” they said.
- Protection of the Hyde Amendment and other pro-life riders in spending bills. Congress must pass Hyde, which has barred Medicaid funding of abortion since 1976, and similar prohibitions each year.
- Promotion of policies designed to encourage adoption and foster care and to protect faith-based, child-welfare agencies from government discrimination. The ERLC is partnering with the State Department and like-minded organizations “to ensure that intercountry adoption remains a viable option for families and vulnerable children around the world,” Leatherwood and Daniel wrote.
- Resistance to the transgender mandate. The Biden administration has sought to revive an Obama-era rule that required doctors and hospitals to perform gender-transition procedures and abortions over their objections. Two federal courts of appeals blocked enforcement of the mandate in 2022. The commission “will continue to monitor developments and oppose any new attempts to implement this harmful rule,” according to the agenda.
- Defense of religious freedom in China, which has increased its persecution of Christians and members of other minority faiths in recent years. The SBC and ERLC have championed the cause of the Uyghur people, primarily Muslims who have been victims of a genocidal campaign by the government in western China. The commission “will continue to be a voice for the persecuted in China,” Leatherwood and Daniel wrote.
- Advocacy for rebuilding a strong refugee resettlement program to aid people fleeing religious persecution or other repression in their countries.
- Opposition to the spread of the “harmful, predatory” gambling industry.
The ERLC also has provided a summary of the policy items by category in the agenda here.
This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.
