Donald Trump on Monday urged a staunchly anti-abortion Christian group to stand up for "innocent life," ambiguously revisiting an issue that of this year's presidential election. The former president and presumptive Republican nominee's pre-recorded message praised the work of those attending the event hosted by the Danbury Institute, which is meeting in Indianapolis in conjunction with the (SBC). The newly-formed institute is an association of churches, Christians, and organizations that wants to eradicate abortion in its entirety.
A panel of in-person speakers doubled-down on that anti-abortion stance on Monday, and a top Southern Baptist leader called for a hardline position against in vitro fertilization (IVF). Albert Mohler, the president of the SBC's flagship seminary, said IVF is a "commodification of the embryo" that assaults human dignity. He criticized pastors as well as politicians showing openness to it including in Alabama, from prosecution and civil lawsuits after a state Supreme Court ruling said frozen embryos are children.
"We're about to find out how pro-life the pro-life movement is," Mohler said. Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the overturning of a federally guaranteed right to abortion -- having nominated three of the justices who overturned -- but has and says he wants to leave the issue to the states. At odds with Mohler's view, Trump does support IVF access.
In his recorded remarks, Trump thanked the audience for their "tremendous devotion to God.
