Biggest U.S. Protestant Church Needs Long-Overdue Course Correction For Its Political Arm
THE FEDERALIST
In May 2022, Louisiana Southern Baptist Pastor Brian Gunter successfully recruited state representatives to sponsor the Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act. The bill passed committee 7-2 along party lines and was scheduled for a floor hearing, the first abortion abolition legislation anywhere in the country to make it that far. Sadly, Gunter was about to face opposition from his own denomination’s leadership.
Following the publication of the letter, Republicans helped defeat the bill. Self-managed abortion remains legal in Louisiana today, partly due to Leatherwood’s treachery. As I stood among those abolitionists, the betrayal hit like a gut punch: Our own denomination’s leaders sided against life and the SBC’s 2021 Resolution on Abolishing Abortion.