On Wednesday, the Southern Baptist Convention — a denomination with nearly 13 million members — voted to condemn the use of in-vitro fertilization. This marks the first time one of the largest conservative religious organizations in the country has officially formed a position on the reproductive care process.
The nearly 10,000 delegates at the group’s annual meeting voted to affirm a “right to life of every human being, including those in an embryonic stage,” going so far as to include language to advocate for government regulation on IVF, per the New York Times.
The vote wasn’t without dissent. While delegates from across the country shared their firsthand positive experiences with the treatment, the group ultimately voted in favor of the language, which marks a turning point in the largest evangelical body’s position. Evangelical groups, especially the SBC, are amongst the most powerful voices in conservative politics.
Author and religious right expert Annika Brockschmidt blasted the move, warning that it’s merely one of many attacks on reproductive rights and sexual freedom.
“Christian Nationalists [are] coming for abortion rights, gender affirming care, IVF. We were right. Contraception and no-fault divorce are next on their chopping block,” she wrote on X.
Democratic lawmakers took the vote as a sign that the GOP intends to trample IVF rights in the future, after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling effectively ended the practice on the grounds of “extrauterine” personhood.
“They have already come after reproductive freedom. They are coming after contraception. They are coming after IVF. They will not stop,” Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Schatz wrote in a post on X.
Democrats are expected to hold a floor vote on a bill to preserve the right to IVF at a nationwide level on Thursday.
President Joe Biden has been vocal in his support of IVF and his opponent, Donald Trump, previously championed the right to the procedure in a Truth Social post. Whether the Southern Baptist position will influence his own is unclear, but he used a speech at the Danbury Institute earlier this week, which coincided with the conference, to urge Baptists not to vote for Democrats.
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