WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 4, 2014—The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention released its 2014 Legislative Agenda today, outlining the issues the organization plans to address in the coming year.
At the top of the list, the ERLC plans to address issues such as the sanctity of human life, religious freedom, marriage and family.
“The second session of the 113th Congress is likely going to be a very difficult period legislatively,” said ERLC President Russell D. Moore. “Between election year jockeying and the ongoing political rancor it will be hard to find a path forward for many of the bills we want to see become law. Nevertheless, government is part of God’s design for ordering human relationships, so we must work to help it fulfill its creational purpose.”
Other legislative efforts Moore and the ERLC staff plan to cover in 2014 include:
- Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would prohibit performing abortions on babies at 20 weeks or greater gestation, except to save the life of the mother.
- Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act of 2013, that would bring pressure on foreign governments to institute basic humanitarian measures to address deplorable prison conditions.
- State Marriage Defense Act of 2014, which instructs the federal government to look at a person’s state of legal residence when determining marital status and application of federal marriage law.
The entire ERLC 2014 legislative agenda can be accessed here.
The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest non-Catholic denomination with more than 15.9 million members in over 46,000 churches nationwide. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the SBC’s ethics, religious liberty and public policy agency with offices in Nashville, Tenn. and Washington, D.C.
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