No, the ERLC did not support pro-choice legislation in Louisiana (or anywhere else for that matter), and the ERLC will never support pro-choice legislation or policies in any form. In fact, the ERLC has included numerous pro-life pieces of legislation in the first annual State Policy Agenda, available here.
The ERLC is incredibly grateful for the work of pro-life organizations, including Southern Baptists in Louisiana, who have passed laws that have outlawed abortion in the state. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion was outlawed in Louisiana beginning on June 24, 2022, because of a previously passed trigger law, which the ERLC supported.
Some of the confusion may come from the ERLC’s decision to sign a letter with over 70 other pro-life organizations upholding the traditional pro-life position of the Southern Baptist Convention: ban abortion, save preborn lives, support mothers, and punish the abortion providers.
The letter, addressed to lawmakers in all states, stated that each of the organizations—which included National Right to Life, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, March for Life, Americans United for Life, and Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition—opposes any efforts which would treat women as criminals when they are rightfully understood as victims of an abortion industry that wrongly has pitted the life of the mother against the life of the child. In addition, the executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, one of the state’s largest pro-life organizations, signed the letter affirming the principles.
Visit erlc.com/faqs for more answers to frequently asked questions.
