In a historic victory, Planned Parenthood and other large abortion providers are defunded through the recently passed budget reconciliation bill. Signed into law on July 4, various pro-life and pro-family budget reforms that care for the vulnerable and promote life will now take effect across the country.
Throughout this year, Congress has been working to enact President Trump’s agenda through the budget reconciliation process, allowing for needed reforms in United States tax and budget policy. Shortly after the new Congress was sworn in, the ERLC published its six priorities for reconciliation emphasizing pro-life and pro-family provisions Congress should enact. Since then, the ERLC has been advocating for these Southern Baptist priorities to be included in the reconciliation package through regular meetings on Capitol Hill, with the Trump administration, and with coalition partners.
What is reconciliation?
Reconciliation is a legislative process that allows Congress to pass budget-related policy with a simple 51-vote majority, instead of the typical 60-vote threshold required in the Senate. Only occurring when there is one-party control of Congress and the White House, this offers a unique opportunity for Southern Baptist legislative priorities to advance.
The final reconciliation package includes four significant priorities that the ERLC championed alongside Southern Baptists.
What Southern Baptist priorities were in the reconciliation bill?
Major pro-life and pro-family victories were included in the package:
- Defunds Planned Parenthood: Prohibits taxpayer dollars through Medicaid from funding large abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, for one year. This marks the first time in U.S. permanent law that unborn lives are protected by barring the direct federal defunding of these predatory organizations. This historic provision establishes important precedent in congressional history for pro-life advocates to use in future reconciliation bills. Furthermore, Planned Parenthood has said the one-year defund could force it to close up to 200 locations across the country, saving more lives, and moving the nation more toward a culture of life.
- Increases the Child Tax Credit: Raises the Child Tax Credit by hundreds of dollars to $2,200 per child for most American households and adjusts the credit to inflation. These improvements cement the existence of this pro-family credit, which was originally set to decrease back to $1,000 at the end of 2025. The Child Tax Credit will especially provide relief for low- and middle-income parents, which will better help them care for their children and help new parents choose life.
- Enhances the Adoption Tax Credit: Makes the Adoption Tax Credit refundable up to $5,000 per child and adjusts the credit to inflation. Effective starting this year, this provision seeks to alleviate the significant cost of adoption, thereby, effectively promoting alternatives to abortion. This will make adoption a more attainable process for families seeking to adopt and help place children in loving homes.
- Introduces non-itemizer charitable giving deductions: Establishes a universal charitable tax deduction for all taxpayers who donate to qualified charities. Now, the deduction is up to $1,000 for individuals and up to $2,000 for married couples. This is a change to the previous law, which barred taxpayers who did not itemize their deductions from deducting charitable contributions. This will encourage giving that fuels faith-based ministries and the local church, as well as promote service to our communities that need it.
How does this reconciliation bill affect Southern Baptists?
This bill contains historic wins for Southern Baptists.
- It effectively strips the abortion industry of its federal funding, no longer implicating American taxpayers in the moral horrors of abortion at the federal level.
- It invests in families by reducing financial barriers for choosing life.
- It incentivizes charitable giving to indispensable institutions like faith-based organizations and local churches through tax credits.
- It allows more hard-earned tax dollars to stay in the pockets of families to cover costs and provide relief.
Where our nation’s money goes reveals what we value. With these provisions enacted into law, life, families, children, and faith are clearly valued.
Following President Trump’s signing of the reconciliation bill, ERLC’s President Brent Leatherwood stated:
Those of us who have been working and advocating for the sanctity of life for decades are now beginning to see the fruit of our efforts. We have brought forth generational victories with executive action, in the courts, and now, finally, through the legislative process. It is fitting that this law is signed on the 249th anniversary of America’s birth as it marks an undeniable step towards a more perfect union, a project set in motion by our Founders.
I want to thank the President, the Speaker, the Senate Majority Leader, and all the members of Congress who helped make this a reality – one few imagined possible not long ago. But I also want to offer my personal gratitude to the many Southern Baptists who have been so courageous in boldly and publicly proclaiming what we know to be true about life: Each of us is made in the image of our Creator. As a result, every life is precious and deserves to be protected by the law.
