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February 5, 2021 Our form of government invites Americans to engage in the legislative process through advocacy. The ERLC advocates for issues of missional priority that are of national import through the cooperation of congregations throughout the Southern Baptist Convention, as was recently noted in the introduction to our 2021 Public Policy Agenda. Our public policy team’s advocacy work in Washington is organized through the categories of religious liberty, sanctity of human life, justice, marriage and family, and related international engagement. On some issues, there is a wide shared consensus and purpose, and on others, there is deep disagreement. As our public policy agenda says, “whether issues are currently popular or unpopular, we have the opportunity to bear witness, to seek to persuade, and to build the consensus needed to make change.” ....
Today, President Biden announced that he will rescind the pro-life Mexico City Policy. The Mexico City Policy, established by President Reagan, prohibits U.S. foreign aid to groups that provide or promote abortion overseas. This policy has been a political football since President Clinton first rescinded it. One of President George W. Bush’s first administrative actions was reinstating this policy, and the policy has gone back and forth since then. Why is it named for “Mexico City”? In 1984, President Reagan gave a speech announcing the policy at the United Nations International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) hosted in Mexico City. President Reagan instituted this important new pro-life policy at this UN conference because its purpose was to ensure that U.S. federal money would not suppor any foreign nongovernmental organization (NGO) that “performs or actively promotes abortion as a method of family planning.” ....
December 31, 2020 On Christmas Eve, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed legislation that would expand access to abortion in the state. On Dec. 29, the Massachusetts legislature overrode Gov. Baker’s veto, with a Senate vote of 32-8 and a House vote of 107-46. The abortion-expanding measure was included in the recently passed $46 billion budget. The ROE Act codified abortion into state law and allows for abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases with a cases of of “fatal fetal anomalies,” and when a physician deems it necessary “to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health.” In addition, the ROE Act lowers the age at which minors can obtain an abortion without parental consent from 18 to 16. ....