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The Weekly is a highlight of the work the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is doing to strengthen you and our churches for God’s glory.

Three Southern states move to ban abortion

Over the past two weeks, three neighboring Southern states have passed legislation to ban some or all abortions. Last week Georgia passed a law that recognizes the unborn as legal persons as soon as they have a “detectable human heartbeat.” This week Tennessee became the latest state to sign a “trigger law” criminalizing abortion, while Alabama passed the strictest abortion ban in the nation.

The laws in Alabama and Georgia will inevitably be challenged in the federal courts. But that is what the state legislators who passed the laws intend. “With the political and legal landscape finally tilting in their favor, anti-abortion legislators feel empowered to move beyond abortion restrictions and take a shot at full bans,” says Emma Green in The Atlantic. “One day, they believe, this legislation won’t just be politically symbolic—they hope abortion will become illegal across the country.”

Here is what you should know about the recent pro-life laws in these three states.

This Week at the ERLC

Chelsea Patterson Sobolik shares her story of childlessness and hope in the Lord. Read it on Roll Call.

What You Need to Know

The Southern Baptist Convention is making significant strides to deal with the horrible issue of abuse and to make our churches a safe place for those who walk through the doors. One way the SBC is doing this is through the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group. Phillip Bethancourt has 5 important updates ahead of the Convention in June. Read about them here.

The Sexual Abuse Advisory Group (SAAG) has continued to invest in preparing important resources and recommendations in recent days. According to SBC President J.D. Greear, the purpose of the SAAG is “to consider how Southern Baptists at every level can take discernable action to respond swiftly and compassionately to incidents of abuse, as well as to foster safe environments within churches and institutions.”

Pornography is everywhere. It’s seemingly inescapable, and the reality is that our kids will encounter it at some point. So, Leigh Gust shares how you can help lead your child’s heart away from pornography when they do come across it. Read her 10-point discussion guide here.

After doing a bit of research, it's clear that victory comes down to a common denominator: it’s a heart issue. They'll exchange their healthy hearts for fleshly, lurid temptations, or they will rightly turn away from worthless things. It dawned on me recently that we might actually have to teach them the qualities of a healthy heart. My middle-schoolers, bobbing around in their deep blue sea of emotions, probably have no idea what their heart should be feeling. As parents, we can lead children to recognize exactly what they should be feeling when they come across pornography.

We’ve probably all thought easier said than done after reading Jesus’ words, “Do not be anxious.” There are myriad reasons to be anxious every day. So, what did Jesus mean? Josh Wester explains in his latest article.

Anxiety is a real problem in our society. Working in ministry, I regularly talk to Christians who are struggling with anxiety, and I also spend a lot of time working with leaders trying to help others deal with anxiety in a biblical and healthy way. It seems the problem is ubiquitous. From college campuses and local churches, to marriages and friendships, to coffee shops and businesses, anxiety is everywhere.

News From Capitol Hill

Today the House of Representatives voted on H.R. 5, the Equality Act. The bill passed the chamber by a vote of 236 to 173 with 23 members not voting. We worked diligently in opposition to H.R. 5 by raising the religious liberty and human dignity concerns with this piece of legislation. In this effort on Capitol Hill, we sent several letters to the committees of jurisdiction and one to every representative on behalf of a broad coalition.

This bill represents the most invasive threat to religious liberty ever proposed in America because it would codify as illegal discrimination what are, actually, sincerely held religious convictions. ERLC President Russell Moore commented on the bill’s passage:

“I’m disappointed the House would pass a bill as gravely misguided as the Equality Act. Every human being ought to be treated with dignity, but placing sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in this kind of legislation would have harmful consequences. This extreme legislation went even further by eliminating religious liberty protections and enacting what would be a 50-state ban on faith-based foster care and adoption providers. In the name of equality it would bully those who dare to dissent with the demands of the Sexual Revolution. We will continue to work to ensure that such a bill does not become law.”

Among its most extreme provisions, H.R. 5 would enact a 50-state ban on faith-based foster care and adoption providers seeking to operate in accordance with their deeply held religious beliefs. This is alarming for the future of our social safety net, especially during the opioid crisis. To discuss how such legislative efforts threaten the foster-care system, Jeff Pickering and Chelsea Patterson Sobolik welcomed coalition partner Hillary Byrnes, a religious liberty advocate from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to discuss the future of faith-based child welfare. Listen here: Keeping the faith in child welfare.

Featured Podcasts

How can parents and youth pastors and other influencers create environments that nuture the faith of young people? Dan Darling talks to Dr. Kara Powell, executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) and a faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary, on The Way Home podcast. Tune in here.

On Better Together, a special series on the ERLC Podcast, Trillia Newbell interviews Melissa Kruger. Kruger serves as Women's Ministry Coordinator at Uptown Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. She helps us think through topics related to training women and woen's ministry in the local church. Listen here.

From The Public Square

The (national) fall and (local) rise of pro-life Democrats
Charles C. Camosy, Religion News Service

The evisceration of pro-life Democrats from Congress is all but complete. Attacked by both Democrats and Republicans and pro-life and pro-choice activists, most of these legislators have been either forced to change their views or defeated at the ballot box.

Religious Freedom: What’s at Stake If We Lose It
Genevieve Wood, The Daily Signal

Religious freedom is more than the “freedom to worship” at a synagogue, church, or mosque. It means people shouldn’t have to go against their core values and beliefs in order to conform to culture or government.

Russian Evangelicals Penalized Most Under Anti-Evangelism Law
Kate Shellnutt, Christianity Today

The tight restrictions on minority faiths have increasingly gotten Protestants in trouble and continue to raise concerns over religious freedom.

A New York Times Op-Ed Is Very Wrong About Religious Liberty
David French, National Review

The First Amendment is too often treated as an annoyance, a speed bump on the road to social justice.