Voting for a culture of life this election season

On this episode, we’re talking about voting to promote a culture of life by understanding which state abortion ballot initiatives are included in the upcoming election.

Why care about promoting a culture of life?

Article three of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 says, and I paraphrase, that “The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.” Because of this biblical truth, we believe that every person, regardless of age, level of ability, or stage of development, reflects the glory and goodness of God and should be treated with dignity and protection. 

The ERLC will always advocate for the most vulnerable among us, including preborn lives. Over the years, this advocacy work has taken many shapes and forms, but changed drastically in 2022 when the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Dobbs decision overturned the deadly precedent set in Roe v. Wade. While in many ways this was a watershed moment for the pro-life movement, we recognize there’s still much work to be done in the battle to protect human lives. The landscape has shifted and conversations about abortion rights are now happening at the state-level, where we find ourselves today in the wake of the 2024 election cycle. 

What’s included on state ballots in the November election?

There are currently 10 states across the country where abortion ballot initiatives are up for a vote this November, many of which seek to harm preborn children and threaten the future of the pro-life movement. Joining us on today’s episode to help us better understand these initiatives and what would change should they pass are ERLC President Brent Leatherwood and ERLC Director of Public Policy Hannah Daniel.

Learn more at erlc.com/ballot to see the abortion state ballot initiatve tracker.

Episode Transcript

By definition, a ballot initiative is a mechanism by which voters can directly propose laws and constitutional amendments for a local or state government. In this case, voters are being asked to decide on laws related to abortion access in certain states. Here are Brent Leatherwood and Hannah Daniel to explain what a ballot initiative is and how these particular initiatives ended up on the election ballot.

Brent Leatherwood:

For the most part, the state ballot initiatives take the form of constitutional amendments. So it’s not the federal constitution, but it will be the state constitution in each of these respective states that would be changed or amended. For the vast majority of these ballot initiatives, individuals are being asked to affirm what is essentially an advance of the abortion agenda in their backyards, and that’s very lamentable, but in some sense, there’s nothing unprecedented about it. States routinely put questions on a ballot before their voters and ask voters to weigh in as to whether they want policy to move in a particular direction or another. So in that sense, this isn’t anything out of left field. At the same time, I think we also need to understand that there are national groups, national organizations, that are pushing a very pro-abortion agenda, and it’s playing out through the states here.

And that’s all because of what happened with the Dobbs decision and the overruling of the Roe versus Wade Supreme Court decision that essentially said that there was a constitutional right to an abortion. That’s all done away. And so the state ballot questions put before voters are essentially asking, do you want to go back to the days of Roe? Or in some cases go well beyond Roe? And that’s what’s concerning, and that’s why we want to help Baptists and evangelicals really understand what is before them if they’re in some of these states and why they need to take a stand from life at the ballot box.

Hannah Daniel:

This is some type of mechanism where constituents in a particular state can directly propose new laws or propose constitutional amendments for local or state government. So this looks different in every different state, but typically it includes some type of process where you formulate some kind of question or law that will be on the ballot, and then you gain signatures. You ask your fellow constituents to sign on. Once you get a certain number of signatures, those can then be submitted to the state government to then says, yep, these look good to go. These are all verified. We’re going to put this question directly on the ballot in front of voters. And these are really important pieces of how our laws are made, how our country operates, because sometimes citizens say, you know what, my elected officials are not really representing my views on this topic. We’re taking it into our own hands.

We’re going to create laws on our own. We are going to change course on a specific topic. And it’s really concerning that so many states and so many voters are expressing that desire to shift away from, in some cases, pro-life laws put in place by pro-life legislatures to a more pro-abortion stance. And so it’s very concerning to see so many states putting forward these ballot initiatives where they can push forward a pro-abortion new law, or enshrine some type of protection for abortion in their constitution. We’re seeing that in some states that we would expect some states that are already pretty pro-abortion, but it’s really concerning to see voters feel like they need to take these issues into their own hands and make a change in direction when it comes to protecting the preborn in many states where we already have some pro-life laws. And so this is a really important thing to be watching as we go into the November election and for citizens living in states where these initiatives are taking place. It is so important that we are educating ourselves as well as our community members to make sure we know what is on the ballot in November and how our vote will impact the preborn.

Narration:

While pursuing pro-life Legislation is important and good. It is not the ultimate reason why we care and advocate for preborn lives. We believe it is our God-given right to defend the most vulnerable among us because scripture tells us in Genesis 1:27 that God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them. Every human life has intrinsic value given by our creator. Listen, as Brent and Hannah explain the theological and practical reasons why we should be involved in politics at the state and local level.

Brent Leatherwood:

Well, we should care because the sanctity of life, the protection of preborn lives, that is an issue that is important to God. And as Southern Baptists, as evangelical Christians, as Christ followers, we believe the same that each and every life is fearfully and wonderfully made, and it is made in the image of our God. And we believe that those tiniest, most vulnerable neighbors of ours, future sons and daughters, are deserving of protection. And in many cases, with the exception of the states that we’re talking about that have these ballot initiatives before them, with the exception of Nebraska, which strangely enough has both a pro-choice question, but also a competing pro-life one. So Southern Baptists and Christians in Nebraska are gonna have to pay particularly careful attention to what they’re voting on. But all of these pro-choice questions that are before them, they’re wanting to harm those preborn lives and codify that in state law, that’s reprehensible.

And so Christians should advocate against that and encourage people to go and actually push back against these things and say, no, these vulnerable neighbors are worthy of protection. And not only should we push back on these pro-choice initiatives, we should be doing more work to make sure that our laws reflect that we want our most vulnerable neighbors protected. And so, that’s why Christians should be engaged at the local level, at the state level, and at the national level, and help our lawmakers and policy leaders and elected officials help them understand why this is so important to us and the truths that we know are revealed to us through scripture. In the context that we’re in here in America, we ourselves as citizens and as individuals who are able to participate in the decision making process, it’s incumbent upon us to tell leaders this is how we expect them to act and respond, and to use the God ordained authority that is given to the state, to in fact promote the good and protect life.

Hannah Daniel:

The Dobbs decision in 2022, which overturned the right to abortion set forth in Roe v. Wade was a pivotal moment in the pro-life movement, that can’t be overstated, but so many have been able to capitalize on fear and misinformation following the Dobbs decision to really push forward this narrative that women are not going to be able to get the medical care that they need or are going to be penalized for having a miscarriage. And so we really have seen following the Dobbs decision, which was this huge win for the cause of life, some really concerning trends. On one hand, we’ve seen our federal lawmakers say, you know what? We don’t have any role to play anymore. This is just a state’s issue, which is true that states now do have power that they didn’t have previously, but it did not absolve our federal lawmakers and our elected officials from having a role to play in protecting the preborn.

But it also has energized the pro-abortion side who has been able to capitalize on that fear and on that misinformation to push forward ballot initiatives like we’ve seen this November, but we also have seen some in the couple of years since the Dobbs decision, and all of those have been successful in pushing forward pro-abortion laws, even in states where that does not seem like it should be the case. And so I think for us as Christians, we can often think about voting or politics only when it comes to who are you gonna elect as president? But I think we have to have a much more expansive view of what it means to engage in politics and which races we are watching closely, which ones we vote and participate in, because it’s not just the presidential election that has the potential to impact our lives, to impact the cause of life. It is even more so now post Dobbs, our local and state leaders, and specifically when we have the opportunity to vote directly on the issue of life like we do in these ballot initiatives. Those are the things that are going to have the greatest impact on our immediate community and locality. And so we’ve got to really give significant attention to all levels of government and all of these different races that are going on.

Brent Leatherwood:

It is a lamentable reality that there are probably going to be people that are listening to this broadcast who live, and I’m gonna look at the map going from east to west, New York, Maryland, Florida, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, and Nevada. There are going to be people who are listening to this who don’t know that this important question about life is actually before them on the ballot in November, because the reality of our cultural moment right now is so many of us are consumed by what is going on in Washington. We are overwhelmed by the nationalization of our politics. And so look, it’s an important decision that’s ahead of us, but most people are only focused on the presidential vote. And again, it’s an important decision that we as voters need to make, but it’s not the only thing that’s on the ballot. And I would submit to those voters that while it is important who occupies the White House, these questions right here are going to have more direct effect on your lives, and in particular the lives of preborn children than really anything that’s done in Washington.

So it is incumbent upon us to be informed and educated about what is on the ballot in November. And so particularly if you live in these states, it’s up to you as an individual believer who believes what the Bible tells us to be true. Who knows that there is infinite dignity and worth in every life, especially the preborn. And therefore, as a response to those things that we know to be true, we need to get engaged and go vote against these abortion initiatives to push back against the advance of the pro-abortion agenda. And just realize this is an important election for many of these states. This may end up being a once in a generation opportunity to push back on the abortion regime and send a clear signal to your state leaders. We want this state to be about life and protecting life and respecting life.

Narration:

Our voice matters, and together we can make a difference to impact policy that allows men, women, and children to flourish according to God’s good design for the family. Cooperation is the heartbeat of the Southern Baptist Convention and our advocacy work here at the ERLC. This is why we have partnered with Southern Baptist State Conventions to assist SBC churches by providing them with resources such as explainers, church bulletin inserts, and prayer guides prior to the election. Here are Brent and Hannah to further describe how these partnerships have worked with the abortion ballot initiatives

Brent Leatherwood:

Back in the spring, when it started to become clear that these initiatives, these questions were going to satisfy the requirements in these respective states to actually appear on the ballot, we started engaging our state conventions, which folks may not be aware, but each state or region of the country has a state Baptist convention that is responsible for organizing ministry and serving churches and working alongside those churches in those states regions. And in each of the states that I just mentioned, there is a state Baptist convention that is working to help pastors and inform churches about these decisions that are on the ballot. And we offer to those state conventions, we wanna serve alongside you and provide any resources that you may need at the state conventional level, or that you may think that it’s a good idea that your local church needs these resources. And so it’s been a great partnership. Our State Baptist conventions, they’re doing so much good work, particularly on this issue, and they’re really leading out well in helping churches to be equipped in this moment. And we just wanted to supplement that work and be supportive because that’s what we’re called to do with the RLC. Everybody knows that we obviously talk in the public square about important issues, but we have a dual mandate, that other part of our mandate is to assist the churches.

Hannah Daniel:

We really have seen a need to partner with our state conventions with churches in these different states to push forward true information about what these different ballot initiatives will do and to help get resources to pastors, churches and voters in those different states. So if you go to our website, you could find all kinds of different resources depending on your specific state. So if you live in a state where there is a ballot initiative happening, you can find a short explainer about what is going to be on your ballot in your church. You could put a bulletin insert in where we have created one of those for you that clearly and concisely lays out what is going to be on the ballot, what your vote would mean. We also have some slides and graphics that can be shared and used. We have developed a prayer guide to help you know how to pray specifically for these ballot initiatives.

And that’s something that can be used, whether abortion is on the ballot in your state or not. For even those of us that live in places where we are not facing one of these ballot initiatives, we should certainly be in prayer for these states where this is happening. And we can even share resources with the people that we know that live in those states and help them make sure that they know this is on the ballot and how they can be prepared for it. And so it’s been a real joy to work with many of our state conventions to help make sure that they have the resources that they need to help make sure we are getting pastors and churches the right tools to do everything we can to stop these harmful pro-abortion ballot initiatives.

Narration:

The ERC’s consistent advocacy and voice of hope in the life space provides an opportunity for us to bear witness to the watching world, seek to persuade policy makers and build bridges necessary to make a difference for the good of our neighbors. There are many ways you too can be involved in this work alongside us. Here are Hannah and Brent to talk about ways you can be a part of this lifesaving work.

Hannah Daniel:

There are many different ways that the ERLC is working to promote a culture of life. Some are more obvious when you think about the Psalm 139 project where we’re placing ultrasound machines coming alongside pregnancy resource centers. But I think my work in advocacy is maybe a bit more behind the scenes, but also a key part of how we are promoting this culture of life. We want to see pro-life laws adopted at the federal and the state level, which protect those in the womb. But we also are advocating for moms and families to be supported and for us to wrap around them in ways that empower them to choose life. And so we are using our voice as Southern Baptists here in DC saying, these are the types of policies that we want. We wanna push back on times that our taxpayer dollars are being used to fund abortion or different initiatives that would push forward pro-abortion laws.

So my day-to-Day is about educating lawmakers, educating their staff, helping them to recognize the dignity of the preborn, and also to think creatively about how we can support them. How can we offer protections? How can we wrap around moms and families? And so I think promoting a culture of life is something that each of us do at the ERLC and something that we all do in our own ways and in our own capacities, whether it be supporting a pregnancy resource center, creating a resource for churches or advocating on Capitol Hill. All of us at the ERLC, and I think all of us as Southern Baptist have a role to play in promoting a culture of life, whether that be volunteering at your local pregnancy center, whether that be voting in an upcoming ballot initiative, whether that be coming alongside a woman who is facing an unplanned pregnancy. We all have a role to play, and we all have something we can do to actively promote this culture of life and make that become a reality in our communities.

Brent Leatherwood:

Life is so important to us. I try and tell people that as the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, we operate in four main areas: life, religious liberty, marriage and family, and human dignity. And life is first for a reason because it is so important to so many Southern Baptists. It’s crucial. And not only that, it aligns with the founding principles of this nation. We understand that life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, those are rights that are given to us by God. You tease that out a little bit, we believe that those are essential rights as citizens of a free country, and therefore they cannot be taken away by any other person or by the government because those are pre-political rights. And so therefore, we think and a proper understanding of what we read in Romans, that the government actually has a responsibility to protect those rights and protect life and protect preborn lives.

And so that certainly animates and propels our work at the ERLC. And so of course, all of our work at the federal level, right, whether it is meetings at the White House or meetings with members of Congress to help them understand the cause of life and pushing both for policies that will protect life, and then pushing against policies that will promote an abortion agenda. Things that we’ve seen recently such as abortion travel or government funded abortion tourism, right? Those are things that we are standing against on a daily basis. The Psalm 139 project that comes alongside pregnancy care centers across the country and provides them with the latest and lifesaving technology so that those vulnerable mothers and scared fathers and families who might not know what to do, they come through the doors of those pregnancy care centers and not only get the support they need, and in almost every case will get the gospel, but they also get a picture of the preborn child that is in the womb.

And we just know, right? Countless studies have shown that the overwhelming majority of those mothers, when they actually see that picture of that precious life that they’ve created, they will choose life. And that’s what we want, and that’s what we hope for and pray for, and that’s what we work for, is to save those lives. And in this case, right, to tie it all back together to the opportunity before so many Americans and so many fellow Southern Baptists this fall, you have an opportunity to stand for life in a constitutional sense, in a legal sense, in the policy sense for your respective state. And so just like we support those pro-life workers in those clinics that are on the front lines in the fight against abortion, and just like our advocacy work on Capitol Hill, here’s an opportunity for us to link arms and push back against the abortion regime at the ballot box.

Narration:

The apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12, that our battle in this world is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and power of evil in this age. While we face a powerful enemy in Satan, we are not left without hope and know that in the end, Christ will be victorious over sin and death. So in the meantime, may we remain steadfast as we champion life and pray for the protection of our preborn neighbors and for families so devastatingly affected by the abortion industry. Together we can change the course of history and promote a true culture of life. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of the ERLC podcast. For more information about the state abortion ballot initiatives and how you can join us to pray and promote a culture of life, please visit erlc.com/ballot. 

Join us next time as we continue the conversation about state abortion ballot initiatives with Southern Baptist leaders serving on the front lines of these debates.