Over the last year or so, we’ve been reporting that the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention, had adopted a new mantra in its abortion rhetoric—“making abortion unthinkable.” Yet, the ERLC, under the guise of defending life, has become a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party’s talking points on abortion.

The ERLC’s rhetoric about making abortion “unthinkable” is nothing more than a clever repackaging of ideas lifted directly from Democrat organizations like Democrats for Life. Instead of standing firm on the biblical truth that abortion is an absolute evil deserving of outright abolition, the ERLC has chosen to embrace a softer, more politically palatable approach—one that aligns disturbingly well with the broader leftist social agenda.

It’s not a coincidence that the ERLC’s messaging mirrors that of Democrats for Life (DFL). Both entities promote the idea that abortion can be made unnecessary by expanding social welfare programs and offering government incentives. Like the ERLC, the DFL does not support the prosecution of women seeking abortions.

Let’s compare their mantras:

DFL: “DFLA is unequivocally pro-life. We look forward to a world where abortion is unthinkable.”

ERLC: “Why we aim to make abortion illegal, unthinkable, and unnecessary.”

This is the same tired strategy that the Democratic Party has pushed for decades—throw enough money at a problem, and it will go away. But this approach doesn’t address the moral atrocity of abortion—it merely masks it behind a facade of “compassion” and “care.” The ERLC, in adopting this same language, has shown itself to be nothing more than a religious extension of the Democratic Party, willing to compromise on the sanctity of life in exchange for political relevance.

Of course, there are Southern Baptist pastors who are completely on board with the Democrats for Life:

The phrase “making abortion unthinkable” is particularly cunning. It sounds noble, even righteous, but it’s a hollow platitude designed to placate those who might otherwise demand even stronger action. But like the ERLC, the Democrats for Life misconstrues the “root cause of abortion. According to the DFL, the “root cause of abortion” is a lack of social programs—not sin.

So you can clearly see that this phrase did not originate from the heart of the conservative pro-life movement and definitely not from a place of biblical conviction—it was borrowed from the Democrats for Life, a group that, while less extreme than the broader Democratic Party, still champions a host of leftist causes that have no place in a truly conservative, biblically grounded worldview.

Democrats for Life advocates for the very social justice policies that the ERLC now echoes, from climate activism to systemic racism to socialized healthcare. This is the same group that believes the solution to abortion lies in expanding government programs, not in confronting the moral decay that allows such atrocities to occur in the first place.

What’s truly shocking is how seamlessly the ERLC has integrated these talking points into its platform. Under the leadership of Brent Leatherwood and his predecessor, Russell Moore, the ERLC has become indistinguishable from any other leftist social justice organization. They have abandoned the fight for the total abolition of abortion in favor of a strategy that seeks to make it “unnecessary” through a series of bribes and government handouts. This is not the language of biblical conviction for the sanctity of life, it’s the language of a compromised institution, one that has sold its soul to the highest bidder in the political marketplace.

And the ERLC’s willingness to adopt the rhetoric of Democrats for Life reveals the depths of its compromise. It’s not just about murdering children. It’s about the entire social justice agenda that the Democratic Party has been pushing for years. The ERLC has become a tool for advancing this agenda within the church, using religious language to cloak its activism and the entire notion of making abortion “unthinkable” is nothing more than a smokescreen. It is a way to distract from the fact that the ERLC has no real interest in making abortion illegal or confronting the evil head-on.

The reality is that the ERLC’s stance on abortion is not rooted in a solidly biblical worldview but in the talking points of a Democrat organization. In the end, these organizations, while giving lip service to pro-life causes, are still leftist. And leftists have an entirely different way of thinking about things—and it isn’t grounded in the revelation of God, but rather in the consensus of man.