Southern Baptists took a significant step forward in reaffirming their biblical convictions, addressing issues from marriage to life sanctity. At the same time, protests and violence continue to escalate in Los Angeles and other cities. Congressman Brian Babin offers perspectives on societal breakdown and the critical need for reinforcing family structures. Lastly, the ongoing pro-life battle raises the stakes as abortion pills become a focal point of legislative and ethical debates.
SPEAKER 22 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 05 :
We will use every asset at our disposal to quell the violence and restore law and order right away. We’re not going to wait seven days and eight days and wait for a governor that’s never going to call and watch cities burn. And let me tell you, if we didn’t do this, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground right now.
SPEAKER 08 :
That was President Donald Trump yesterday speaking at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Welcome to this June 11th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in. Well, coming up, we’ll get the latest on the federal response to the unrest in Los Angeles and insight on what’s next in the nuclear negotiations with Iran that appear to be faltering. Joining us will be Pennsylvania Congressman Scott Perry, a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Also, House leadership is preparing for another significant vote tomorrow.
SPEAKER 03 :
This week, we’re taking up the recessions package. Thursday, we will vote on that. We’ve been answering questions from our members, but our members are ready to go lock in some of those Doge cuts. A Doge identified waste, fraud, and abuse in so many areas of the federal government. This is a start. It’s a good start. It’s an important first step, and we’re going to take it on Thursday.
SPEAKER 08 :
That was House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. I was on the Hill earlier today at a meeting with the House Speaker, and it appears that everything is teed up for this bill. We’re going to talk with Texas Congressman Brian Babbitt about what’s next in this first spending reduction bill. As abortion pills become the primary tool of the abortion industry, pro-life states are pushing back. Yesterday, Louisiana, my home state, approved a measure allowing women to sue out-of-state doctors who mail or prescribe abortion pills into the state. We’ll talk with the bill’s sponsor, State Representative Lauren Ventrella. In a related story, the Southern Baptist Convention found its prophetic voice. Meeting this week in Dallas, they approved several significant resolutions. One calls on the FDA to revoke its approval of Mifeprestone, the first drug in the chemical abortion regimen. Another calls for overturning the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell decision that redefined marriage in America. Both were adopted overwhelmingly by the 10,000 delegates, or what are called messengers. We’ll discuss the potential policy impact of these resolutions with Dr. Andrew Walker, chairman of the SBC Resolutions Committee, and North Carolina Congressman Mark Harris, who is also a Southern Baptist pastor. And today marks the first day of our 21-Day Family Bible Challenge as we begin reading the book of Matthew together. And guess what? It’s not too late to join us. Just text the word MATTHEW to 67742. That’s MATTHEW to 67742. It’s a great opportunity to strengthen the spiritual foundation of your family. Well, President Trump appears to be losing confidence in nuclear negotiations with Iran as the talks drag on and on and on. He says he’s less confident in cementing a deal now. The president also says that Iran has become more aggressive in nuclear negotiations as frictions build between the two nations. Meanwhile, Iran has made explicit threats against the American bases if the talks fail and if conflict ensues. According to the president, the next round of talks is scheduled for tomorrow, but some have reported that it’s unlikely. After all, what’s left to talk about? We’re here to discuss this and more. Congressman Scott Perry, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Select Subcommittee on Intelligence. He represents the 10th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. He’s also a combat veteran who retired at the rank of Brigadier General. Congressman, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always good to see you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it’s great to be with you, Tony, and thanks for the opportunity. And I would just say we should not be surprised by Iran’s posture and kind of the condition or the stage of where the talks are at this point. What they’re doing is they’re just playing for time, as they always do. I’m going to tell you, it’s my opinion that they have no intention, absolutely no intention of changing course. And unfortunately, much of the world has characterized, including the United States, their nuclear program as something other than a weapons program. It is specifically and only a weapons program, and the first The first part of figuring out a problem or finding a solution is identifying what the problem is, and if you can’t even do that, it’s hard to find a solution. So I think that President Trump is right to grow weary and not as optimistic about the conversation, because I would say the Iranians have no intention whatsoever of walking back from their nuclear ambitions, and it’s going to take something more than talk to get them there.
SPEAKER 08 :
It appears that they have dug in on the issue of being able to continue to enrich uranium at a low level, as they say, for nuclear power plants. They say that’s a non-starter. They’re not going to give that up.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, but they don’t need to be enriching at any level, and nor can they be trusted. That’s the problem. You can’t trust the Iranians, the mullahs, the supreme leader. You can’t trust them because their doctrine requires that they lie to advance the cause of Allah. And so you can’t trust them. There’s no reason for them to enrich for what they can buy on the open market. And the only reason they want to continue to do it is to continue with their weapons program under the guise of the civilian program.
SPEAKER 08 :
Congressman Perry, they have threatened. I mean, these are very explicit threats. They’re not veiled. They say, we will target all U.S. bases in host countries without hesitation if these talks break down and if there is any type of attack on their nuclear program, whether it’s by the U.S. or by Israel. What is their capacity and how significant of a threat is that?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, they do have a capacity currently, and it is a threat. However, I would say this. They have been diminished more so than ever in the recent, during the six months of the Trump administration, more so than they have been over the last five years. Their proxies have been decimated. They have lost ground in Yemen, in Syria. And, of course, with Israel. So they are at the most enfeebled state probably in the last 20 years militarily. That having been said, I’m sure they’re going to issue the threat. But I would also say that if there is a strike to bring them into line with national norms and to avert the possibility of a terrorist nuclear attack, that it’s going to also at the same time decimate their ability to deliver any conventional attack of any size on American interest or on Israeli interests. I think they know that, and I’m sure that’s part of the calculation for any preemptive strike that might be being considered right now.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I would think that what might also have to factor into their calculation is if they attack U.S. targets after a precision strike on nuclear facilities, there’s going to be a response from the United States, which could lead then to a regime change, because that’s really the next thing for them is that their regime is teetering already.
SPEAKER 06 :
Their regime is teetering. Like I said, they’re at their weakest point in decades now, not only militarily, certainly economically, but also as a governing body. The Iranian people, many of them seeking their freedom and don’t want to live under this oppressive theocratic dogma. And all there needs to be, look, there have been plenty of sparks, as you know, unfortunately, whether it was the Biden administration or the Obama administration, just disregarded the will of the Iranian people to throw off their shackles of tyranny. But that spark still exists there and left with an opening, a window of opportunity open. Like you said, they are the Iranian regime is really gambling with their future by by walking into this space. And I think that the right person to press this is President Trump right now needs caution. It needs resolve and patience. But he should push this to the maximum limit. Maximum pressure will either get the Iranians to back down or, like you said, will likely end up in regime change.
SPEAKER 08 :
Congressman Scott Perry, I want to shift gears to another place where negotiations have stalled. That is the president wanting to see peace in Eastern Europe between Ukraine and Russia. As time goes on, and I think we’re both probably in the same place, I don’t think America can be the world’s policeman. We can’t be and we shouldn’t be. We can’t afford to be fighting all these different fights or funding other people’s fights. Right. But over time, it’s become quite clear who the aggressor is. I mean, Russia invaded Ukraine. But even the way they’re executing the war. I mean, just this week, largest drone strike from Russia targeting, once again, civilian populations hitting a maternity ward. Right. Much different than Ukraine.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, that’s exactly right. Of course, Ukraine is fighting for its life and in the fight for its life against the aggressor, which is Russia. Unprovoked attack, as you recall, several unprovoked attacks starting in Crimea, but then further advancing. Ukraine has has targeted military installations and military targets. albeit inside Russia, but they’re still military targets. Of course, Russia’s answer is to attack civilian targets, including a maternity ward. And so, look, I think that the war in Ukraine is is potentially reaching a whole new stage of accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. And it’s going to require a different and a new response, not only from the United States, Tony, but from the rest of the civilized world. We simply can’t abide these kind of things. And again, Russia is the aggressor. Ukraine is just trying to defend its own sovereign territory, which has been invaded. unprovoked. And I think that the president’s patience is coming to an end.
SPEAKER 08 :
There are tools that we can use besides the military. There are economic levers. In fact, the Senate entertaining sanctions on Russian oil. I mean, that is what’s funding their war machine. Is that something we should aggressively pursue?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, I do think we should aggressively pursue that. The president has been patient. He’s backed down. President Zelensky on the ceasefire issue and America’s involvement with Ukraine. So he’s gotten him to a place where he’s willing to accept some terms from Russia. But Russia seems unwilling at this point to do anything but press the attack and try to gobble up more territory. And at some point, You can’t keep on extending the hand of reconciliation and having it slapped away. At some point, the president is going to have to go to the next level. And with these recent attacks, especially on things like maternity awards, maternity awards and civilian populations, I think that’s a signal that Russia is disinterested, doesn’t have any interest whatsoever in curtailing their aggressive activities. You’re going to have to bring them to the table some way. And it’s either going to be diplomatically, economically or militarily. We’ve been trying the diplomatic approach through Ukraine with the military approach. The only thing really left is the economic approach. And I’m fairly certain that the president, those options lay on the table. And the question is, is when is that going to happen?
SPEAKER 08 :
Congressman, we just have about a minute and a half left. What else can the United States do? I mean, again, all of us are reluctant to get involved in conflicts and wars, but clearly we’re seeing a difference in worldview between these two countries and how they’re executing the war. We see religious crimes, I think, by Russia as they go into these occupied areas and they’re actually exporting the pastors, closing down the churches. What else can we do to stand on the side of Ukraine?
SPEAKER 06 :
the other thing we can do to stand on the side of ukraine is provide the rest of the world with low-cost energy that russia is currently providing the united states have the abundance of it and we can really even without sanctions drive down the cost of this energy that they’re using to support not only the war but their economy and make them suffer economically make vladimir putin suffer economically you don’t want to do that to the russian people Unfortunately, they have elected their leader. He’s chosen to attack their neighbor. And there has to be a consequence to that. And that is not only good for the people of Ukraine, but also, quite honestly, the rest of the world and America itself. So I think that’s a policy that we should really pursue. We have the resources. We have the know-how. And again, I don’t see a lot of downside to doing that for the United States of America.
SPEAKER 08 :
Not at all. It creates American jobs. It helps out the global economy and our economy at the same time. Congressman Scott Perry, always great to have you on the program. Thanks for joining us. Well, thank you. God bless you. All right, folks, stick with us. We’re coming back right after this break.
SPEAKER 14 :
Hi, everyone. This is Pastor Jay Johnston, National Prayer Director with the Family Research Council. I want to invite you to join our 21-day Family Bible Challenge as we read through the book of Matthew. This is an opportunity for you and for your family to come together for 15 minutes a day to read God’s Word together. Deuteronomy 6 says, these commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. and press them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Seek the Word of God, obey the Word of God, share the Word of God so that you and others might know the joy of walking with God now and for all eternity. As your family gathers to read the Bible, invite the Holy Spirit to work in your life to spiritually transform each one of you. Ask the Lord to show you creative ways for you to connect with your family to read God’s Word together. I pray that however God uses this challenge in your life and those that you join together with will be a blessing to you and strengthen you as you read the Gospel of Matthew together. Visit FRC.org slash Family Bible Challenge for more information.
SPEAKER 19 :
In a time when Washington seems clouded by compromise, a bold group of lawmakers are standing firm in defense of the values which our nation was built upon. At FRC Actions 100% Awards, 171 members of Congress were honored for voting 100% in line with policies that promote faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 18 :
Faith and family made our country, it’s the foundation that made our country not only great, but good.
SPEAKER 04 :
The values that make America, faith, family, hard work, personal responsibility. I mean, that to me is the heart of FRC and grateful for everything that they do.
SPEAKER 17 :
It’s very important for us to have organizations such as FRC. First of all, I think it keeps us grounded. In addition to which, the issues that you champion are issues that we should all be championing.
SPEAKER 16 :
FRC is very, very good at honing in on those things that really affect Christians’ lives. Also, working with members of Congress, too, to make sure that those values are instilled in the legislation that we create.
SPEAKER 12 :
Having the Family Research Council to guide us is critically important to being able to do the right thing consistently.
SPEAKER 19 :
These lawmakers have drawn the line, not just in policy, but in principle. This is more than politics. This is conviction in action. Visit FRCAction.org for more information on how you too can make a difference.
SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. Thanks for joining us on this Wednesday. All right. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass finally took action. I don’t know how people tolerate the leadership out there. I mean, just remember, it wasn’t long ago the city was burning. because they wouldn’t do their job there. They had the fire chief more interested in pronouns than fighting fires. So finally, she took actions to quell the riots in her city by issuing a regional curfew. Now, reports from this morning stated that dozens of rioters were arrested during the curfew. And there have also been reportedly fewer clashes between rioters and the police as a result. Unfortunately, it looks like protests and riots now are spreading outside of Los Angeles to other blue cities, blue lawless cities, like Chicago and New York. There are consequences to coddling criminals and ignoring the law. You enforce the law, and guess what? You have law abiding citizens, but you coddle criminals and you refuse to enforce the law. And guess what? You get protests. Your city burns up. Joining us now to talk more about this, Congressman Brian Babin, who is the co-chair of the Congressional Border Security Caucus. He represents the 36th Congressional District of Texas. Dr. Babin, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 10 :
Always good to be with you, Tony. And thanks so much, Family Research Council.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I appreciate that. I mean, should we be surprised that once again we see Los Angeles on fire?
SPEAKER 10 :
I hate to say it, but these woksters out there, the radical Democrats, no, it is not surprising to see this happening out there. It’s disgusting to see, but I’m afraid they just don’t know that they’re riding a dead horse. They just continue to do the same thing over and over again. You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. The American people are fed up with this kind of stuff. And that’s why Trump won in the landslide.
SPEAKER 08 :
We probably don’t have time to get into this conversation, but there’s another layer of this. When you look at these cities that are really tinderboxes for this type of stuff, for agitators that come in, bad governance that’s there already. But a lot of it’s the breakdown of the family. You know, we cannot ignore the cultural, the social, and even the spiritual aspects of this lawlessness that has been breaking out in cities across our country.
SPEAKER 10 :
It’s demonic, Tony. It really is. I mean, there’s indications and evidence that foreign nations are funding some of this. Quite frankly, we know George Soros and some of these leftist groups are as well. And quite frankly, and Unbelievably, our own federal government, we’ve found evidence that USAID funding has gone to some of this kind of stuff too. So, you know, this is what the left wants to do. This is the globalists, that hate America, hate Christianity, hate our Constitution, hate Israel. They are the ones that simply want to destroy this country, the greatest in the history of our great planet. And they want to start it over from the ground up, I guess, with a socialist anti-state or communism.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, for us on the right, the challenge is a little greater because when we respond to this, and the problem has grown so big over the years, but we still want to operate within the confines of the Constitution and the law. We see those things as fixed, non-negotiable, and so you cannot reestablish law and order through lawlessness. And so that makes it a little more difficult for us. I think President Trump is aggressive in what he’s taking. He’s learned from his last term when we had the George Floyd riots. But is there any concern that we may be going too far, that we’ve got to keep it within the boundaries and be very careful how we go forward?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, you know what? I believe in law and order. I was raised by a mom and a dad, quite frankly, of faculty, school coaches, and teachers. If you were bad, they had corporal punishment. There was discipline. And today, I think we just have seen a loss of disciplinary action. on the part of our society, and quite frankly, the Democratic Party. We’ve seen them go soft on crime, open border extremism. I mean, open borders to the extreme of 10 million plus coming over in the last four years. They’ve defunded the police departments, they’ve coddled criminals, and now their streets are on fire with the mobs burning the cars and attacking cops. What really gets you is they’re waving foreign flags. And who is standing up defending them? Mayor Bass, the California governor. The Democrats are doubling, tripling, quadrupling down on a losing strategy.
SPEAKER 08 :
Dr. Babin, we’re coming up on Father’s Day this weekend. And I’m wondering where some of the fathers are with some of these kids. And that’s a part of our problem is that 25% of our kids in America are growing up in homes without fathers. It really comes back to the structure of the family. We’ve got to bring a focus back on the family and policies that would support, defend the nuclear family.
SPEAKER 10 :
There is no question about that. And that’s why groups like Family Research Council are so valuable to keep us, those of us who are elected officials, keep us grounded in some of the truths that are happening and some of the remedies that we need to do. And quite frankly, as you said, the breakdown of the family is something that I think the Soviet Union, even way, way back, During the Cold War, they knew if they could break up the integral family of America, if they could take our churches down and corrupt us, that we would become soft and we’d be an easy target for them. And quite frankly, I think they’ve accomplished quite a bit there. As you know, almost half of marriages end in divorce or they don’t bother to get married anymore. We know the chances of children from divorced parents, they’re more likely to be in poverty. They’re more likely to get pregnant out of wedlock. In fact, quite frankly, their lives are not as long.
SPEAKER 08 :
The funeral family is so important. Absolutely, to the country and to the individuals. Just 30 seconds left. We were going to talk about the rescissions bill. There’s a floor vote tomorrow. How does that look very quickly?
SPEAKER 10 :
I think we’re going to pass it. I wish it was more. It’s $9.4 billion. But the stuff, anybody that would try to argue that we don’t need to be doing this, I’ll give you some examples. $33,000 for being LGBT in the Caribbean, $643,000, same thing, in the Western Balkans, Uganda, $3 million for Iraqi Sesame Street. $1 million for programs to strengthen resilience of LGBT queer global movements. $2.5 million teaching young children.
SPEAKER 08 :
Doc, we’re going to have to leave it there. We’re out of time. Folks, stick with us.
SPEAKER 09 :
The Center for Biblical Worldview’s all-day workshops delves into the formation of a worldview, what it is, how it’s formed, when it’s formed, what that means to them personally and their churches and communities.
SPEAKER 13 :
My hope for people when they come to these worldview workshops is that they will come away better equipped to engage the people and the ideas that they’re living with and around. And our goal is to give people more confidence in the gospel, and the fact that what God said to us actually is true, actually is the path to happiness and human flourishing for all of us, but also more confidence in their ability to have these conversations and help lead other people to the truth.
SPEAKER 02 :
For Bible-believing Christians to know what God’s Word says on these issues and to learn how they can apply it to their lives. And we believe that the more Christians that we equip, that’s how we’ll change the nation.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hey, fam, listen, Pastor Sammy here at Lighthouse Church, and I cannot tell you how equipping, how empowering, how incredibly educating this conference has been. And so I just want to encourage anybody that either has not been part of or is thinking about hosting this event, certainly to pastors, leaders, even CEOs for that matter. This conference is lights out. Stand behind it myself. I can’t commend it enough. We’re going to be talking about this for some time to come.
SPEAKER 11 :
The culture is kind of squeezing in on us as God’s people, forcing those of us with biblical views to change those views or to suppress those views. It’s forcing us to engage with issues that we’ve never had to engage with. And so what this teaches us is what those issues are, what the Bible says about those issues, and then how we can critically engage our culture on these things in a way that is committed to biblical principle.
SPEAKER 20 :
Visit frc.org slash worldview for more information.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, this is Washington Watch. Sorry to cut off Dr. Babin, but the breaks, they’re here. We’ve got to take them when they come. All right, the state of Louisiana is defending its pro-life laws. It’s one of the most pro-life states in the nation, and they’re going on the offense, and I’m grateful for that. Yesterday, state lawmakers approved a new measure that targets out-of-state abortion drug providers. Now, this is the result of a New York doctor that has sent abortion pills into the state of Louisiana. And this is yet another tool. They’ve indicted. That doctor has been indicted, but Governor Hochul in New York refuses to, obviously, allow this doctor to be extradited. So there’s another tool here, civil action through mothers being able to sue these abortion pill subscribers or the prescriptions, the pharmacy, all those involved, whoever approved them, the doctors and others. The bill heads to the desk of Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. We’re going to be joined just a moment by Louisiana State Representative Lauren Ventrella. Actually, they’re in their last day of their session in Louisiana, so they’re rushing through to get some bills through. So she may be joining us here momentarily. But I want to bring in Travis Weber, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs here at the Family Research Council, because this is a problem that was created by the Biden administration when they changed the protocols for mifeprestone, the abortion pill. They removed the safeguards that required doctors to do a consultation, in-person consultation, with a mother before prescribing these drugs. They did away with it, which opened the door for these being sent through the mail. That policy remains in place. The Trump administration has not removed it. They could fix this overnight. if the Trump administration would simply put back in place the protections for women. But they haven’t done it, and it needs to be done. Travis, thanks for joining us. Thank you, Tim. What do you want to add to that? I agree.
SPEAKER 20 :
I agree. That’s what needs to be done, right? So sometimes these issues just require moral clarity, conviction, and a step forward. forward, right? Because as you say, this is a matter of FDA oversight that’s federal government.
SPEAKER 08 :
This shows, I mean, again, I’m just going to be very candid. I’m here to be honest. This goes back to President Trump being afraid of the abortion issue. It goes back to the party platform that we were a part of, that they stripped the life language out of. And look, I know they’ve done some really good stuff on the life issue. And I applaud that. And we applaud that here. But Almost over 70%, roughly 70% of abortions now are conducted through the abortion pill. It would not matter if 49 states in this country had solid pro-life laws as long as one could…
SPEAKER 20 :
Male abortion pills into those states. You know, Tony, it’s interesting because the Trump administration, one of the things they’ve done right, they’ve rolled back the woke export in our foreign policy. What happens, though, when a state wants to export this, as you’re saying, to other states and impose an anti- conservative anti-life position at odds with the administration’s own views on so many matters on other states. That’s what’s happening. So that’s why it’s important. That’s why we need to continue to call attention to it. And as we said in our publication several years ago, this was the next abortion battleground. That’s what we called chemical abortion. It’s upon us. We’re currently in the midst of it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Nothing is more defining of a nation than how it protects the most vulnerable. And again, I applaud the steps that have been taken, but As long as the abortion pill can be sent in, and it is 70% of, it’s responsible for 70% of abortions.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, Tony, I think it’s the overwhelming majority. And we look at that next battleground, it’s upon us. And what’s happening, people are deceived what’s actually going on here. This is the termination of a life that God in his sovereignty has formed in the womb, a living, breathing baby. We’re terminating that baby’s life, just like we do with the grisly dismemberment and other abortions.
SPEAKER 08 :
But there’s also, the stories are not being told about the implications for women. Because this abortion pill is only effective within a certain window, the first 10 weeks, I believe 10, 11 weeks of pregnancy. After that, it becomes a health complication for the mothers. If you’re not having an in-person consultation, and of course, there’s also the maligned use of this, as we saw just in Texas, where there’s a murder case where a boyfriend, or I’m not sure if they were married or not, but gave his wife, pregnant wife, unbeknownst to her, this drug and killed her baby.
SPEAKER 20 :
As Mary Zock from our team points out, this gives cover to men who want to abuse women, take advantage of the situation and their behavior towards women. It gives them cover. They can cover up their activity.
SPEAKER 08 :
But it can create tremendous complications, even death.
SPEAKER 20 :
It can. And this is an area we focused on in our writing. It’s an area that the government, that states and the federal government should do more to draw out, say, let’s study the issue. Let’s examine it. Let’s have testimonies of women come forward and tell what’s happened. Why not? Why wouldn’t we want to do that?
SPEAKER 08 :
So we have, folks, we’ve been talking about this to administration officials. So we’re not just, you know, I don’t get on here and talk about things that we don’t work on. So we are working on to get this done. We’re talking to administration officials. But there’s something else we’re going to be doing. because we know how entrenched the abortion mindset is in this nation and how strong it is. It’s a stronghold spiritually. On the 24th of this month, June 24th, we’re going to have a specific day, a call to prayer and fasting. to see this spirit of abortion broken off of this country once and for all. And so, folks, I’m going to have more information about that as we get closer to that. But mark your calendar. June the 24th is a day of prayer and fasting. Travis, thanks so much for coming in and listening to me. Thank you. All right, folks, I am passionate about this and we should all be passionate about it because God created life. It’s created in his image. And when we have the power to do something, we should. And we have that power. We can pray and we can push for legislation that honors the word of God. All right, don’t go away. We’re back with more after this.
SPEAKER 18 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 15 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 23 :
There’s so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 15 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 23 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 11 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 19 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. The website, tonyperkins.com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app. You can have access to Washington Watch. Also, you’ll get the Stand Firm newsfeed, news and commentary from a biblical perspective. And you’ll also have Stand on the Word, my daily commentary or my daily devotional every morning. And in fact, today we began the New Testament and the 21 Day Family Bible Challenge. We’ve got lots of resources available for you if you’d like to join us as a family. This is designed to help families walk through the Word of God together, beginning with the book of Matthew and the story of Jesus. Text MATTHEW to 67742, and you can take the challenge. You can see what resources are available for you. We’ve got discussion guides. We’ve got family activities that are laid out for you. And then we also even have coloring pages. for the little ones. So take the challenge and watch your family be strengthened spiritually through the Word of God. Text MATTHEW to 67742. All right, the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, has been meeting this week in Dallas. The messengers, as they are called, approve several significant resolutions. One calls on the FDA to revoke its approval of Mifeprestone. That’s what we were just talking about in the previous segment. There’s two drugs involved in a chemical abortion, and Mifeprestone is the first one that is taken. Another resolution calls for the overturning of the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell decision that redefined marriage in America. Now, both were adopted overwhelmingly by the 10,000 messengers. And joining me now to to talk about this is Congressman Mark Harris, who represents North Carolina’s eighth congressional district. He is also the senior pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Morrisville, North Carolina, and previously served as the president of the North Carolina Baptist Convention and also was here at the Family Research Council. Congressman Harris, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hey, Tony, it’s great to be with you this evening.
SPEAKER 08 :
We may be joined here shortly by Dr. Walker, who was a part of the, actually was the chairman of the resolutions committee. He’s having a little difficulty connecting. But I want to talk about this because we’re seeing these shifts, really. I mean, when you look at 2015, Obergefell redefining marriage, could it be, Mark, that people are starting to connect the dots, that they realize that our inability to define male and female goes back to the redefinition of marriage?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, Tony, I think you’re exactly right. I think that we tried to discuss it. We tried to declare it that once you tried to start changing up what God’s word says and something as important as marriage and trying to redefine it, then that is a slippery slope. And you’re gonna go down a path that you never imagined you would go down. And sure enough, It turns out that those that were pushing that agenda back in 2015, really that was just the tip of the iceberg. That was something they thought they would get by with that would only open the door to further push and push and push till where we are today. People don’t seem to know the definition of a woman. or they don’t seem to understand the impact of having men playing in girls sports or men in women’s locker rooms or just choosing whatever sex you want to be when you choose which bathroom you want to use. And it opened up the slippery slope. And I can only hope and only pray THAT THIS IS A GREAT SIGNAL THAT SOUTHERN BAPTISTS ARE SENDING TO AMERICA THAT THEY’RE GOING TO LEAD THE WAY IN HELPING PEOPLE OPEN THEIR EYES. AND AS A DENOMINATION, THEY ARE TO BE COMMENDED FOR TAKING THIS STEP TODAY.
SPEAKER 08 :
YOU KNOW, SOME WOULD SAY, WOW, THEY’RE TRYING TO TURN BACK THE CLOCK. YEAH. ABSOLUTELY. ABSOLUTELY. WHEN YOU GO THE WRONG DIRECTION, THE BEST THING TO DO IS NOT GO FASTER, IS DO A U-TURN. TURN AROUND AND GO BACK. I’m encouraged by this because the Sunday Baptists have had some difficulty in the last few years, and this would suggest to me that maybe they have rediscovered their prophetic voice. And when I say that, that means declaring the Word of God regardless of what the culture says.
SPEAKER 07 :
I would agree, and I certainly am grateful. In fact, as I’ve learned more about this this evening, I’m going to be sending Clint Presley a note and thanking him for his leadership. I did see something about his message. Typically, I’m at the Southern Baptist Convention, and this is my first year serving in Congress. and so unable to attend the convention this week. But as I did read the story and even listened a little bit to his message was to hold fast to their convictions. And I think that Southern Baptists have gone through a period that has not been perhaps their greatest days in the last several years. And I think that maybe this is finding that prophetic voice again. That’s a great way to put it. And really being Southern Baptist again. They’ve always been a strong voice. And we saw the conservative resurgence that I think had a major role in our nation on so many different levels. And I think that this is a great, great indication.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, I want to be careful about, you know, painting Southern Baptists with a broad brush, just as we’re careful not to do that with Congress, you know, because a lot of people want to talk about how Congress is bad. But then, you know, that’s why we have members like you on, because I want people to see that we’ve got godly men and women here in our nation’s capital doing the work of God as they’ve been called here to do. Same thing in the Southern Baptist Church. But there have been those who have had the, I think, have commandeered the microphones, so to speak, of the Southern Baptist over the last, not quite decade, but close to it, that have wanted to… you know, I guess, coddle the culture and compromise in order to get along. And I think they’ve realized that that’s not the role of the church to go within the flow of the culture. It’s rather to stand against it and be a catalyst of turning the culture.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and that’s what I loved about just what I read about Clint Presley’s message, his presidential message to the convention from Hebrews, challenging the people to hold fast to their convictions. And one of the things I understood he said was that he’s grateful that they don’t have to debate whether or not they believe the Bible. And that’s one of the things that Southern Baptist sort of staked out years ago, and then they staked it out in their Baptist Faith and Message 2000, that we as a convention believe that the Bible is the inerrant and fallible Word of God. And you know as well as I do, Tony, that if you stick with that as your foundation, then you’re going to be in a much stronger position than trying to figure out everything on your own.
SPEAKER 08 :
I want to bring in, we have Dr. Andrew Walker from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who oversaw the proceedings as the chairman of the resolutions committee. I want to bring Dr. Walker in. Dr. Walker, thanks so much for joining us. You’re joined here by Dr. Mark Harris of North Carolina, another Southern Baptist pastor, as well as a member of Congress. Thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, thank you, Tony. Great to be with you.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, we were just discussing the marriage measure in particular. Give us a sense of what happened on the floor when these resolutions came forward, starting with the one calling for the overturn of the 2015 Obergefell decision.
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, Tony, the great news about this resolution is that it wasn’t remotely controversial. I had a chance to talk with several reporters, and of course the outside media is kind of shocked that the Southern Baptist Convention would call for the overturning of Obergefell 10 years after this Supreme Court ruling was given by the Supreme Court. But this is not a controversial issue in the Southern Baptist Convention. In fact, it was remarkably calm. There was no protracted conflict on the floor of the Southern Baptist Convention on this question. It’s an issue of consensus. It’s an issue of conviction. And as I heard the other guests say just a moment ago, this is because we are a convention, thankfully, that is firmly planted on Scripture as the authoritative Word of God.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, that’s really ultimately what this is about. It’s not our opinion. It’s not what we think. If we’re going to follow Christ and be adherents to the Word of God, it’s what he says. I mean, Jesus himself said this in Matthew chapter 19. He defined both gender and marriage right there.
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, and so in some of the conversations I’ve been having with reporters on this question, they’ve been asking me, do we feel like this is an imposition on secular society? Is this an area where we can disagree as a society? And I have tried to reiterate to these journalists that there are areas where I think we can have some reasonable disagreements. We can have disagreements on tax rates and at what level we engage in subsidies in public policy. we really can’t have room for debate on these fundamental issues like what is a man, what is a woman, what is marriage, what is family? And so I’m so thankful that the SPC is a convention that has firmly kind of planted itself on this issue. I think you can measure the health of a convention and the health of a denomination by what it is debating. And I would argue that the issues that we are debating as a convention are issues that demonstrate health, not theological compromise.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, as a Southern Baptist, I find it refreshing. Congressman Harris, I’m going to go to you and ask you this question because you’re in a unique position. You wear two hats or maybe two robes. You are a pastor, member of Congress. How will this affect, and this is probably going to scare the left, but how is this going to affect policymakers to see the largest Protestant denomination saying, you know what? As a culture, as a nation, we took a wrong turn, and we need to revisit this.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think it will certainly spark some conversation, and I think that is exactly what it should do. I mean, you had Justice Thomas that has raised a question, I think, in decisions several years ago that left room and feeling that the court needed to revisit that. Let’s face it, there’s plenty, plenty of legal scholars who recognize that the Oberfeld decision was another one of those decisions that the Supreme Court just kind of made law or created law out of whole cloth. It took us 50 years to see that that was the case with Roe. And then the Dobbs decision came down. I don’t think it would take 50 years to get there. But again, I think Southern Baptist taking this step today certainly opens up the conversation. I think the things that we’re seeing that are happening in the culture, as we’ve talked about, not being able to define what a woman is, not being able to recognize that that women should be in women’s restrooms and men should be in men’s and men shouldn’t be playing in women’s sports and all those kind of things. I just think the very fact of the conversation, to your point, probably is going to scare the left of what it would mean. But I think that it will certainly open some doors and open some hearts, perhaps, to consider some things.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I’m hoping this will start the conversation of connecting the dots of why we’re having these discussions about the definition of male and female. It goes back to the redefinition of God’s design for human relationships. Dr. Walker, I want to ask you this question because I want to move to one of the other resolutions that I think is quite significant. That is calling on the FDA to go back to the previous protocols on Mifeprestone, which protects women requiring in-person visitations with the doctors, obviously just recognizing the fact that this abortion pill is, you know, 65, 70 percent of abortions now. Was there an understanding as this resolution was being advanced that these policies are from the federal government and the Trump administration could change this overnight, but this is violating the states that have pro-life laws?
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, thank you for that question, Tony. And I should just add and give recognition to FRC’s own David Claussen, who had a significant hand in helping draft this resolution. So just congratulations to David for a job well done. I think what we are saying in this resolution is that ultimately we are seeking the the end of the distribution and sale of Mifepristone and these chemical abortion drugs. While we cannot yet ban them because of a lack of political will, sadly, what we are calling for in the interim is for higher regulation and stricter policy controls around the availability of these very, very dangerous drugs. Because one of the things that has transpired from 2012 through 2021 or 2024 with the Obama and Biden administrations was a loosening of protocols to make these pills more widely available. And as the resolution talks about, we cited a study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center noting that the dangers of this pill are far more dangerous than is being commonly reported by the FDA.
SPEAKER 08 :
Was there any pushback to that resolution?
SPEAKER 21 :
No. I mean, thankfully, this is another one of these areas where I think Southern Baptists are remarkably united. There is no floor debate on this type of question when it’s put before the convention. I’m just very thankful, again, that the types of debates that Southern Babists are having are, I think, marginal debates on the edges of things. We’re not having these debates about fundamental creation order issues. And I’m very thankful to be in a convention that is so pro-life.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I would agree with that, Dr. Roy. I’m glad we’re not debating the inerrancy of Scripture. We know that. We’ve settled that issue. But we’re having relevant debates over the application of the Word of God to real-life issues that are facing our culture, and I would say threatening our culture. If we don’t get these things right, we don’t have a future.
SPEAKER 21 :
I totally agree. And in some conversation with the journalists who have been asking me about these resolutions, they’ve been casting this as, are these issues that Christians are being Christian nationalists and we’re trying to impose our interpretation of the Bible on the world? And I’ve been able to come back to them and say, well, Christians believe that obviously the Bible is authoritative, but the biblical moral claims are not moral claims relevant just to Christians. They are moral claims that are relevant to the entire world. And these are moral claims that we believe are grounded in truth, they’re grounded in human flourishing, and they’re ultimately grounded in the common good.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes, and we must defend them. Dr. Walker, Dr. Harris, thank both of you for joining me today. Great to see both of you. Thank you. Thank you. And folks, great to see you as well. And we’re out of time. Until next time, I leave you with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, when you’ve prepared, and when you have taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 22 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
