The history of Southern Baptists shows they have not always opposed abortion

Attendees pray during a worship service at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Anaheim, California, on June 14, 2022. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

With an abortion case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Southern Baptist Convention of June 2022 encouraged its members to pray for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in the U.S.

The resolution, “On Anticipation of a Historic Moment in the Pro-Life Movement,” was not without controversy, however. A faction of Southern Baptists who consider themselves “abortion abolitionists” argued the Convention should also call for the criminalizing of people who have abortions as murderers. Instead, the resolution calls on Southern Baptists to stand with and pray for “abortion-vulnerable women.”