30 Years Later

Southern Baptists and Roe v. Wade

By Dr. Richard Land

The Southern Baptist Convention, holding its annual meeting in Phoenix in June, passed with virtual unanimity a resolution reaffirming Southern Baptists' deep conviction that the "Bible affirms that the unborn baby is a person bearing the image of God from the moment of conception" and "all human life is created in the image of God, and therefore sacred to our Creator."

This, in and of itself, is hardly news. The Baptist Faith and Message, Southern Baptists' confessional statement of "those articles of the Christian faith which are most surely held among us," affirms that all children "from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord" and that Southern Baptists are obligated to "speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death."

The Southern Baptist Convention had also passed strongly worded pro-life resolutions beginning in 1980, followed by similar and often issue-specific pro-life resolutions in 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993 (Freedom of Choice Act, Hyde Amendment), 1994 (RU486), 1996, and 2002 (partial-birth abortion).

So why did the Southern Baptist Convention decide the very next year to issue another ringing condemnation of abortion? The answer is two-fold. First, 2003 is, sadly, the 30th grievous anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision which has led directly to the holocaust of over 43 million American babies being killed before their birth because at least one parent considered them to be too embarrassing, too expensive, too ill, or merely too inconvenient.

However, the most compelling reason for Southern Baptists to issue yet another pro-life resolution is found in Southern Baptists' past. Sadly, most Southern Baptists were not conversant with the pro-life issue until the late 1960s and many wrongly dismissed it as "just a Catholic issue."

The Roe v. Wade decision shocked them into confronting the issue in a major way and they soon discovered that some of their denominational leadership was pro-choice, perhaps most notably Foy Valentine, my long-time predecessor as head of the Christian Life Commission, (1960-1987).

As the 2003 resolution explains, "during the early years of the post-Roe era, some of those then in leadership positions within the denomination endorsed and furthered the 'pro-choice' abortion rights agenda."

So in other words, the Southern Baptist Convention took the opportunity of the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade to apologize for "the initial blindness of many in our Convention to the enormity of Roe v. Wade" and that "we lament and renounce statements and actions by previous Conventions" in 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, and 1978 "and previous denominational leadership that offered support to the abortion culture."

Southern Baptists once again have shown it's never too late to do the right thing and say "I'm sorry" for past mistakes.