Stories to watch in 2023

The events of 2022 had an effect on many issues that we will be dealing with in this new year. Here are four stories related to ERLC concerns that you should watch in 2023.

How is your church responding to a post-Roe world?

The Dobbs decision marks a true turning point in the pro-life movement — a moment that Christians, pro-life advocates and many others have worked toward tirelessly for 50 years. As we respond to the ruling in this case, we want to be faithful to pray.

This free Dobbs prayer guide contains a list of 48 specific prayer requests to guide you, your family, and your church in your prayers over the coming weeks and months.

This Week in Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that local pharmacies and chain drugstores may now distribute Mifepristone - the first of two medications in the abortion pill regiment. This regulatory change will expand access to these life-taking drugs and will be a boon to the abortion industry that has long preyed upon vulnerable women and their children for profit.

Previously, pregnant women could only legally obtain the medication by prescription at certified clinics, hospitals, or mail-order pharmacies. The FDA’s decision to loosen these rules will inevitably increase the pill’s supply to satisfy the heightened consumer demand for the abortive pill, especially in states with regulations and bans on the medication.

For decades, the ERLC has worked to prevent the introduction of these pills, and we have subsequently sought to regulate access at the federal and state levels. The ERLC will also continue to advocate for robust conscience protections that keep impacted pharmacy employees from being forced to violate their deeply held religious beliefs.

You can read more about the ERLC’s opposition to medication abortion and our concern about this action here.

Featured Podcasts

This week on the ERLC Podcast, Lindsay and Brent discuss the latest development with abortion pills, the ongoing deliberations regarding Speaker of the House, and Damar Hamlin’s terrifying collapse on the football field. They also talk about the latest issue of Light magazine.

From The Public Square

Appeals court upholds Florida high school’s transgender bathroom ban
Politico

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the St. Johns County School Board did not discriminate against transgender students based on sex, or violate federal civil rights law.

Court: Abortion doctors can’t be charged under Arizona law
Associated Press

An Arizona court has ruled that abortion doctors cannot be prosecuted under a pre-statehood law that criminalizes nearly all abortions yet was barred from being enforced for decades.

Defining ‘woman’ battle heads to states amid new wave of LGBTQ bills
Politico

Many Republicans say their laws on gender issues are a response to President Joe Biden’s interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling on workplace discrimination.

Christian Doctors Challenge New Mexico's Assisted Suicide Law
Religion Clause

Suit was filed this week in a New Mexico federal district court by a physician and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations challenging the constitutionality of New Mexico's End-of-Life Options Act.

What You Need to Read

Richard Land with Roe is Finally Gone. What Must We Do Now?

Now, the pro-life movement must take up the cause in each state, understanding that it still, first and foremost, is a struggle for hearts and minds. The abortion issue is the leading edge of a much more fundamental debate between the culture of life and the culture of death, between a “sanctity of life” ethic versus a “quality of life” ethic, which inevitably is grounded in the answer to the question, “Who and what is a human being?”

Chelsey Youman with The Twin Frontiers of Abortion in a Post-Dobbs World

While it was a tremendous pro-life victory that allows elected officials to make laws protecting children in the womb, Dobbs emphatically did not end abortion in the United States. Much of the fight to protect vulnerable little ones remains with us. That’s why it is essential that legislators, activists, and Christians remember why we “address” abortion at all: to end the ongoing massacre of innocent, human life in the womb.

Jill Waggoner with A helpful framework for kids and video games

If you’re an adult and you care about the next generation, you feel an obligation to act like an adult and protect children. We are supposed to do our best for children and that is not the way society is going today. As a Christian, you should care about the health, well-being, and spiritual maturity of children. There’s a lot wrong with our society, and children are always the victims. They are always the ones at the bottom as these negative effects trickle down.