WHEREAS, The Bible teaches that God holds human life to be sacred and created human beings in His own image; and
WHEREAS, Southern Baptists have historically affirmed biblical teaching regarding the sanctity of human life by adopting numerous pro-life resolutions at the national, state, and local levels; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 1.6 million unborn babies are killed each year in America as a result of the 1973 decision of the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade; and
WHEREAS, In 1989 the Supreme Court began the dismantlement of the Roe decision by upholding a Missouri pro-life statute in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services; and
WHEREAS, As a result of the Webster decision, states now have more flexibility to regulate and restrict the practice of abortion; and
WHEREAS, The Supreme Court is likely to erode or overturn the Roe decision in the near future; and
WHEREAS, Legislation has been introduced in the United States Congress which would codify and expand the Roe abortion rights and thereby restrict the rights of states to regulate abortions within their borders; and
WHEREAS, Pro-abortion legislators in Congress are also attempting to repeal restrictions on federal abortion funding; and
WHEREAS, New drugs and technologies, including RU-486, which will make the practice of abortion easier, are being researched and used in other nations and abortion advocates are attempting to bring these technologies to America; and
WHEREAS, Some scientists in America are experimenting with the tissues of babies from induced abortions in order to find cures to certain diseases and are working to repeal the ban on federal government research on fetal tissue transplantation; Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, June 4-6, 1991, affirm the biblical prohibition against the taking of unborn human life except to save the life of the mother; and
BE IT FUTHER RESOLVED, That we call on all Southern Baptists to work for the adoption of pro-life legislation in their respective states which would expand protection for unborn babies; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we call on all Southern Baptists to work with equal fervor to compassionately encourage and assist girls and women with unplanned or unwanted pregnancies to carry their children to term and to prepare for the best life possible for their children; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we oppose all efforts by the United States Congress to limit the rights of states to restrict abortion-on-demand and call upon Congress to maintain current pro-life policies which prohibit the use of federal funds to encourage, promote, or perform abortions except to save the life of the mother; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we oppose the testing, approval, distribution, and marketing in America of new drugs and technologies which will make the practice of abortion more convenient and more widespread; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we support the current federal government ban on funding any transplantation of tissue from induced abortions for purposes of experimentation and research and call on the federal government to maintain the ban despite pressure from the scientific community and pro-abortion organizations.