ERLC’s Public Policy Priorities for 2021

Public policy advocacy is one of the many ways the ERLC fulfills its ministry in the public square. We recently released our 2021 Legislative Agenda, which focuses on more than three dozen policy issues we will advocate before the U.S. Congress. 

Below is a sample of our policy priorities in the areas of sanctity of human life, religious liberty, family and marriage, justice, and international engagement.

Some of these issues have been a part of the ERLC’s legislative agenda for the last several years; other issues are new and a product of the political moment in which we find ourselves. Legislatively, with two surprise results in the Georgia senatorial runoff elections, both chambers of Congress will be controlled by the Democratic Party during the 117th Congress, although with razor-thin margins. The Senate is divided 50-50 between the party caucuses, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking any ties. In the House, the Democratic Party holds control by a handful of votes.

Although Senate Democrats will have some procedural tools to pass legislation on partisan lines, broadly speaking, only legislation with substantial bipartisan consensus will be able to pass both chambers and be signed by President Biden. It will therefore be difficult to pass legislation within many of the areas of most concern for the ERLC, which do not enjoy broad bipartisan support, such as protecting the human dignity of the preborn, religious liberty, and comprehensive immigration reform. Nevertheless, the ERLC will work to advance and make progress on our public policy agenda in these divided times at the federal level.

This Week at the ERLC

• Russell Moore joined Jon Ward on The Long Game podcast to talk about the events of the past few weeks. He also joined the Adopting Hope podcast to talk about the joys and struggles of adoption. 
   
• Chelsea Patterson Sobolik was quoted in Christianity Today talking about ways Christians can stand for life during the Biden Administration.
   
• The ERLC continues to prepare for the first-ever virtual Evangelicals for Life. Join us live on January 28 at 12:00 p.m. CT for an important conversation about the future of the pro-life movement. 

What You Need to Read

• Jeff Pickering with Why Christians can celebrate the peaceful transition of power

When President Washington voluntarily gave up the presidency after two terms in office, he began a tradition, now enshrined in the Constitution, to which the world was left in wonderment. This peaceful transfer of power reminds every American watching that the presidency is, above all, a stewardship. And in this stewardship, leaving is just as important as entering. This is a virtue at the heart of our republic.

• Josh Wester with Gender, sexuality, and the Biden Administration

The progressive policies favored by the new administration concerning human sexuality are distressing to us. And they should be. As Christians we believe that God, at creation, established a pattern for human life. That pattern is clear and easily discerned. He made us male and female, which is to say that he made each person male or female (Gen. 1:27). For Christians, the Bible’s anthropology correlates directly with our lived experience in the world in terms of sex and gender. Sex is tied to biology; gender is tied to sex. And none of these things are fungible.

• Conrad Close with 3 ways to escape our online bubbles

It might seem like our isolation is out of our control, but we can be purposeful about escaping our online bubbles. We don’t need the world to go back to normal to change the way we interact with others. In an online world designed to pull us apart, let’s choose to break out of our bubbles. In 2021, let’s scroll less and talk more. We might “like” fewer posts, but we’ll be free to love more people in the real world.

News From Capitol Hill

On Wednesday, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. President Biden immediately began signing a flurry of executive orders (EOs), memoranda, directives, and letters. These actions came in a week when the United States surpassed 400,000 lives lost to COVID-19. On that note, President Biden made clear with a memorial Tuesday night that combatting the pandemic is the top priority for his administration.

In a new piece on President Biden’s first week of executive actions, the ERLC's public policy team discusses a few of the actions taken Wednesday and those expected soon. The list of administrative actions related to the ERLC's work includes:

• Protection for Dreamers and DACA Recipients
• Repeal of the Mexico City Policy
• Family Reunification Task Force Executive Order​
• Bostock Executive Order
• Repeal of the “Muslim Ban"
• Government-wide Regulatory Freeze

Every election brings new opportunities and new challenges. The ERLC will continue to work with the executive branch to advance issues of concern to Southern Baptists and will bear witness to policies pursued by the government that run contrary to biblical principles.

At the start of a new presidency and new Congress, stay up to date with the ERLC’s work in Washington, D.C. by signing up for the weekly Policy Newsletter at ERLC.com/policy.

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