ERLC Issues 2024 Public Policy Agenda

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 24, 2024—The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has released its 2024 Public Policy Agenda, highlighting its federal legislative and policy priorities that the organization plans to address relevant to its mission. 

“Each year, the ERLC assembles a detailed federal public policy agenda that highlights critical policies and legislation that are being considered in our nation’s capital,” said ERLC President Brent Leatherwood. “Our team spends a substantial number of hours researching and creating this thoughtful report to bring awareness to Southern Baptists about issues related to life, religious liberty, marriage and family, and human dignity. As stated in our Baptist Faith & Message, ‘Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.’ In other words, we want our neighbors to flourish. That objective is at the very heart of this important document.”

The following are highlights from the ERLC’s policy priorities for 2024:

Life 

1. Protect Pro-life Riders in the Congressional Appropriations Process: The ERLC will work to preserve the Hyde Amendment and other pro-life riders to prevent government-funded violence against preborn children and to protect citizens from being coerced into violating their consciences by using their tax dollars to support abortion.
2. Ending the Proliferation of Chemical Abortions: Because these drugs not only take the life of a preborn child but also pose serious threats to the women who take them, the ERLC has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to categorize the abortion pill mifepristone as an “imminent hazard to the public health.” The ERLC continues to push back against mail-order abortion drugs and supports federal legislation, such as the SAVE Moms and Babies Act, which would codify regulatory standards into federal law.
3. Oppose “Abortion Tourism”: As many states across the country moved to ban or severely restrict abortion following the Dobbs decision, the ERLC saw moves from both the Biden administration and corporate America to promote and provide resources for pregnant women seeking abortion to travel to states where it remains legal. The ERLC has strongly advocated against the use of any use of taxpayer funds toward these efforts and is looking for new ways to prohibit the use of federal funding to subsidize the abortion industry.

Religious Liberty

1. Oppose The Equality Act: The Equality Act would codify the demands of the sexual revolution and radically reshape religious freedom in the U.S. The bill would curtail religious freedom protections, hinder the work of healthcare professionals and faith-based hospitals, undermine civil rights protections for women and girls, and ultimately steamroll the consciences of millions of Americans.
2. Support the Conscience Protection Act: No healthcare worker should have to compromise their deeply held beliefs in order to administer care. The Conscience Protection Act provides conscience protections for Americans with religious or moral objections to health insurance that covers contraception methods. The ERLC believes such legislation is critical to curb conscience abuses across the country. 
3. Combat Global Antisemitism: Following the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent response, there has been a significant rise in antisemitism both domestically and abroad. After the horrific attack on Israel, the ERLC led in drafting an Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel, and will continue to build support for Israel’s right to exist and defend themselves. 

Marriage and Family

1. Support Adoption and Foster Care Policies: The ERLC’s defense of vulnerable children is woven through a wide variety of priorities, from religious liberty concerns involved in adoption to the effect the opioid crisis has on foster care as parents struggle with addiction. The ERLC is advocating for policies that would support and strengthen adoption, making it both more affordable and accessible. 
2. Oppose Harmful “Gender Transition” Surgeries and Procedures: The ERLC is advocating for these procedures on minors to be outlawed and supports the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act, which provides conscience protections for medical providers and ensures parents and children affected by “gender transition” surgeries and procedures have a private right of action.
3. Support Parental Rights: In 2023, the ERLC worked with numerous Baptist state conventions to oppose laws that hid information about a child’s adopted gender identity from his or her parents. The ERLC will continue to actively oppose and work against these efforts in the courts while also supporting federal legislation, including the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act, which further strengthens the rights of parents.
4. Support Protections for Children Online: With many children gaining unsupervised access to the internet at younger and younger ages, there has been an explosion in awareness of the harms this is bringing to many children. More must be done to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as pornography, and to empower parents in overseeing the online activity of their children. 

Human Dignity 

1. Support a Permanent Solution for Dreamers: With litigation on its way to the Supreme Court that will likely end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, these young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents remain in an unstable situation. Now young adults, “Dreamers”—many of whom have families of their own with children who are U.S. citizens—are workers, students, and positive contributors to our communities. The ERLC will continue to urge Congress to act to provide a legislative pathway to permanent status for these individuals.
2. Combat the Epidemic of Mass Shootings and Gun Violence: In 2018, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention gave support for “preventative measures that would reduce gun violence and mass shootings while operating in accordance with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution,” and in 2022, messengers urged lawmakers “to take concrete steps…to minimize the threat of gun violence throughout our society.” The ERLC will advocate for these types of measures that prevent the loss of innocent life to the evil of gun violence and mass shootings and provide help to those suffering severe mental distress. 
3. Support Efforts to Shape Artificial Intelligence and Technology that Emphasize Human Dignity: In June 2023, the SBC overwhelmingly passed a resolution offering guidelines on this topic, becoming the first denomination to make an official statement on the ethics of artificial intelligence. The ERLC will continue to assist lawmakers in understanding these realities and advocate for policies in line with this call of human dignity and the common good.

“The ERLC will continue its mission on Capitol Hill throughout 2024—loving our neighbors and seeking their flourishing through public policy,” said Hannah Daniel, ERLC director of public policy. “Grounded in Scripture and guided by the SBC’s resolutions, this document outlines how our advocacy will take shape this year. Despite deep divisions across our nation and dysfunction in Washington, we must find a way to press forward on these issues of missional importance: protecting life, safeguarding religious liberty, bolstering marriage and families and upholding human dignity.”

For more information and the expanded list of public policy priorities, please visit the public policy landing erlc.com/policy.

The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest Protestant denomination with more than 13.6 million members and a network of over 47,000 cooperating churches and congregations. 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.

To request an interview contact Elizabeth Bristow by email at [email protected]