Breaking! The ERLC Has Again Succeeded in Blocking Legislation To Abolish Abortion- This Time In Missouri
In what is becoming a common theme, dozens of pro-life groups, including The Southern Baptist Convention’s ERLC, have again joined forces to shut down a bill in Missouri that would have abolished abortion in the state.
ERLC President Brent Leatherwood, who is fully supported in this endeavor by SBC President Bart Barber, was one of the 76 signatories to a statement used to defeat and discredit the bill. Steadfast Woman explains what happened:
On Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023, SB356, the Abolition of Abortion in Missouri Act, was granted a committee hearing in the Missouri Senate. Under current abortion law in Missouri, a doctor may perform an abortion in the case of a medical emergency. It is also legal for pregnant women to preform their own abortions with a chemical abortion pill regimen or instrument through all nine months of pregnancy. SB356’s intent is to change the law to provide equal protection to children in the womb, meaning the same laws that protect born individuals from murder would be extended to pre-born children.
The bill was allowed to have two organizations speak in favor and two to speak against. Bradley Peirce of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion spoke in favor stating the abolitionist belief that “the murder of anyone should be illegal for everyone”. Jeff Durbin of End Abortion Now also spoke in favor of the bill.
Two pro-life organization spoke against the bill. Samuel Lee of Campaign Life Missouri and Susan Kline of Missouri Right to Life both opposed the bill citing the NRCL letter authored last year after the Dobbs leak. This same letter also killed a bill of equal protection in Louisiana last year. The letter openly opposes equal protection for our neighbors in the womb and requests that law makers keep abortion legal for pregnant women
Tellingly, even though Planned Parenthood had representatives there, they did not speak or advocate against the bill because the two pro-life groups were already doing it for them, all the while pointing to the infamous letter which states:
“…Abortion has taken the lives of more than 63 million unborn American children. But the tragedy of abortion isn’t limited to the unborn child who loses her life. The mother who aborts her child is also Roe’s victim….
Women are victims of abortion and require our compassion and support as well as ready access to counseling and social services in the days, weeks, months, and years following an abortion.
As national and state pro-life organizations, representing tens of millions of pro-life men, women, and children across the country, let us be clear: We state unequivocally that any measure seeking to criminalize or punish women is not pro-life and we stand firmly opposed to such efforts.
…we must ensure that the laws we advance to protect unborn children DO NOT HARM THEIR MOTHERS…turning women who have abortions into criminals IS NOT THE WAY. (Capitalized emphasis theirs)
and
We will continue to oppose legislative and policy initiatives that criminalize women who seek abortions, and we will continue to work for initiatives that protect unborn children and policies that provide and strengthen life-affirming resources for abortion-vulnerable women.
In short: it’s not really murder, and it’s not right to punish the mothers when they’re not really killing human beings.
This is particularly egregious on the part of Leatherwood and Barber given that it expressly goes against the will of Southern Baptist messengers, who passed a resolution at SBC21 which explicitly states: “we affirm that the murder of preborn children is a crime against humanity that must be punished equally under the law.”
But neither man cares, and both are extremely pleased that this legislation failed, having the opinion of “we want to save babies from being butchered, but not if it means even one mom goes to jail.”
To learn more exactly what happened, Russell Hunter from Free the States explains:
About Author
Apparently scared to death of feminists, when they should be scared to death of the Lord.
If a woman is complicit in the murder of her child at age 2, 5, 10, 20, or 100, is she still a victim, or does it become a criminal offense at some point? If so, when and why? If not, why?
If a man hires someone to kick a woman in the belly to murder his unborn child, is he also a victim, or is he complicit in murder?
Why should the means, instruments, and location of a murder make a difference? Seems to me murder is murder, regardless of how, where, why, or by whom.
Why should murder ever not be a criminal offense?
I could ask such questions all day long, and I can only speak for myself, but I’d’ at least like to understand their reasoning even if I disagree with it, but as it stands they make no sense whatsoever. If they want to change my mind somebody in the SBC is going to have to solidly substantiate their reasoning, and do so using scripture.
Are women always ignorant, incapable, hopeless victims, no matter what they say or do? Or is there any time women are intelligent and good enough to know better?
The current explanation is about like arguing that all women are incompetent to stand trial or are not guilty by reason of insanity.
Maybe I don’t understand, but it seems to me it’s actually insulting to women to say it shouldn’t be a criminal offense. But then again, I think differently than most. It would be nice, though, to hear the experts at the SBC at least make an attempt to adequately explain.
If, by their reasoning, there is no perpetrator beyond the law making it legal, then why argue for the perpetrator?
Questions could come to mind all day long, and I could post them all day long. Makes no sense to me smh
Is any wrongdoing ever the fault of the individual, or is it always the fault of an inanimate object, implement, or “the system” ?
If it’s never the fault of the individual, and individuals are too incompetent and irresponsible to know right from wrong, then how do you plan on combating wrongdoing short of preemptively locking everyone up in padded isolation cells for their own safety and own good? And who then is competent and responsible enough to do decide what’s safe and good, and to carry out that imprisonment?
Is it the fault of the abortion “doctor” or is it the fault of his vacuum?
Isn’t partiality contrary to scripture? Since when are God’s standards double standards? Where’s the scripture to substantiate?
Do these individuals actually believe in the God of the Bible, and if so, why would they possibly believe He was lying when He repeatedly condemns killing?
Blind guides, indeed.