As President-elect Donald Trump is swiftly piecing together his incoming administration, one top leader within the Southern Baptist Convention is urging the former and future president to set his sights on five “critical policy actions” within the first 100 days of his return to the White House.
Brent Leatherwood, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the policy arm of the SBC, sent a letter outlining the request to Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon, the managers of Trump’s transition team.
The five policies Leatherwood urged the president-elect to enforce are: vowing to impose the Hyde Amendment, reestablishing the so-called “Mexico City Policy,” repealing outgoing President Joe Biden’s executive order on sexual orientation and gender identity, eliminating unnecessary “rule-making advanced by the Biden administration,” and repealing the Food and Drug Administration’s easing of abortion pill requirements.
We will briefly break down what each request means.
Reimpose the Hyde Amendment
Leatherwood is urging Trump to “reaffirm continued support for and fully enforce the Hyde Amendment across government agencies.”
The Hyde Amendment is a provision that first took effect in 1980 and blocks the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, except in rare cases to save the life of the mother or in situations in which a pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.
Calling for an executive order reinstating the amendment, the SBC leader said the provision “should explicitly direct federal agencies to stop the funding of abortion-related travel and counseling for abortions through immediately ceasing such policies and implementing rule-making as necessary.”
“By issuing an executive order committing to full enforcement of the Hyde Amendment,” Leatherwood wrote, “President Trump will usher in a renewed focus on protecting life and the deeply-held religious beliefs of taxpayers from government overreach.”
Reapply the “Mexico City Policy”
Leatherwood is asking the president-elect to bring back the “Mexico City Policy,” which was first implemented in 1985 by then-President Ronald Reagan.
Referred to by its critics as a “global gag rule,” the policy bars the federal government from funding non-governmental organizations providing pro-abortion counseling or referrals, advocating for the decriminalization of abortion around the world, and working toward the expansion of abortion services globally.
Trump reinstated the policy during his first term, but Biden rescinded it when he took office.
Repeal Executive Action on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Leatherwood is calling on the incoming commander-in-chief to undo Biden’s Executive Order 13988, which sought to expand the protections outlined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Fair Housing Act, and section 412 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 to the categories of sexual orientation and gender identity.
“This executive order by the Biden administration redefines ‘sex-based discrimination’ to include sexual orientation and gender identity while directing all federal agencies to implement this new definition through rule-making,” explained Leatherwood, arguing the action was “specifically crafted to circumvent the religious beliefs and conscience protections of millions of Americans regarding gender and sexuality, misuse taxpayer funds for ‘gender transitions,’ and promote radical gender ideology, even amongst children.”
Undo “Harmful” Rules From Biden Era
Leatherwood is calling on Trump to “undo the anti-life, anti-religious liberty, and pro-gender ideology rule-making advanced by the Biden administration.
“In addition to rescinding the aforementioned executive order,” he wrote, “the Trump administration can easily begin fulfilling this goal by undoing many of the harmful rules promulgated by the Biden administration and ceasing in any related federal litigation.”
The SBC leader noted three rules in particular he hopes the White House will target.
Leatherwood’s list includes: the Department of Health and Human Services’ “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities,” which the ERLC argued would force faith-based medical institutions to perform transgender-related procedures; the Department of Education’s “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance,” which, according to an ERLC analysis, would require any school receiving federal monies to allow transgender-identified males to compete on female sports teams; and the HHS’ “Designated Placement Requirements Under Titles IV-E and IV-B for LGBTQI+ Children,” which would mandate prospective foster parents to affirm transgender-identified kids’ claimed gender identities.
Upend the FDA’s Relaxation of Abortion Pill Requirements
At the end of the letter, Leatherwood encourages Trump to “reverse the Biden [Food and Drug Administration’s] changes to the risk evaluation management strategy (REMS) requirements for mifepristone that expanded the reach of the abortion pill and threaten the health and safety of women.”
He went on to say that, under Biden’s direction, the FDA took action to “allow prescription of the drug through telehealth without ever seeing a doctor in-person and to allow dispensing of the drug at local pharmacies.”
In June, as CBN News reported, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Democrats’ favor regarding wide availability of mifepristone, which is currently accessible via mail. Prior to the Biden-era changes, the FDA required an in-person meeting with medical providers in order to receive the abortion pill.
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