The ERLC supports the Conscience Protections for Medical Residents Act, a bill introduced by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC-3). The bill ensures medical residents and students are never coerced into performing an abortion during their education.
Currently, medical residents with religious and moral objections to abortion must opt out of trainings for abortions in their accredited programs. However, oftentimes, out of fear of retribution, medical students do not. This bill would require graduate medical programs to enforce an opt-in policy, protecting religious students from discrimination for their beliefs.
No person should be forced to violate their conscience when pursuing their career. This bill is a necessary step to ensuring that conscience rights and religious perspectives are not just accommodated in medical settings but respected.
As Southern Baptists, we have fiercely held our conviction to support and advocate for religious liberty since our formation as a denomination. Religious liberty is not solely a question of legal concern, but a matter of deeply rooted theological thought; our consciences are beholden first to the Lord, and second to one another.
Southern Baptists spoke to conscience protections at the:
- 2024 annual meeting through the resolution “On Defending Religious Liberty,”
- 2023 annual meeting through the resolution “On Christ’s Sole Lordship Over Every Human Conscience,”
- 2019 annual meeting through a resolution “On Protecting Religious Liberty,”
- and 2016 annual meeting through the resolution “On Biblical Sexuality and The Freedom Of Conscience.“
For more information on conscience protections, visit our Conscience Protection Act page.
