One in five Oklahomans belong to a Southern Baptist Church.
On Thursday, the Church formally voted not to support IVF treatments.
IVF stands for “In Vitro Fertilization”
It’s a medical procedure commonly used to help couples who are struggling to get pregnant.
IVF has been a hot-button issue since the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that the frozen embryos used in IVF treatments could be considered children, earlier this year.
On Thursday, the IVF debate reached the U.S. Senate floor where senators rejected a bill that would protect IVF treatments nationwide.
FOX23 broke down how both of these decisions could impact you.
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the largest Protestant gathering in the nation.
This week the SBC passed this resolution at their annual meeting, denouncing IVF due to its impact on multiple embryos.
A Baptist pastor in Tulsa told FOX23 that these resolutions rarely affect how churches operate here in Oklahoma.
In an annual meeting, the SBC, with representatives of hundreds of churches, voted for a resolution against IVF treatments.
Many are now wondering what this means.
The resolution urges couples in Southern Baptist Churches to “consider the ethical implications” of the IVF process.
It does not ban the process, nor does it change the Convention’s Constitution or the Baptist Statement of Faith.
It simply reaffirms a gray area of their pro-life stance within the Convention.
It does not impact anyone attending a Southern Baptist Church who has had or is considering the IVF process.
FOX23 went to talk with Pastor Stephen Shaw at Parkview Baptist in Tulsa.
He said the resolution only represents an agreed-upon opinion by those present at the Convention.
He added decisions like these rarely affect churches affiliated with the SBC.
“Some of it doesn’t affect us at all, as far as being directly affected by some of those things that are going on. Some of those things where we see that with something controversial, it can affect us where people may have a stigma against Baptists. But as far as affecting us, there’s not a big effect because the vote didn’t change anything anyway,” Shaw said.
Shaw said subjects like what the SBC voted on, are not primary or even secondary doctrines to the faith, but tertiary, where each church has their own say over the beliefs they teach in their own congregations.
In the SBC Constitution, Article Four reads, “While independent and sovereign in its own sphere, the Convention does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organizations, associations, or convention.”
“You’re gonna have differing beliefs and so with those tertiary doctrines, a lot of the times you’re gonna see that those things just aren’t as important as the mission of the overall church,” said Shaw. “No one understands fully, no one knows fully, but there are things we can clearly stand on and still have unity in. We have to just prioritize what we’re doing here and we’re just trying to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus.”
Now the controversy on IVF access had its effects over in D.C. as well.
On Thursday, senators shot down a proposed law that would ensure access to IVF treatments for Americans.
That doesn’t make it illegal, it just doesn’t make it a constitutional right.
Republicans like Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said they support IVF, just not this package.
He released this statement following the vote.
“Like many Americans, my wife and I struggled for years to have children. Thankfully, IVF and other fertility services have helped countless couples fulfill their dreams of starting a family, including my own. Despite Senate Democrats’ desperate attempts to politicize this issue and fear-monger to voters, the reality is, not a single Senate Republican opposes in vitro fertilization, in fact, we emphatically support it”
The Democrats are saying that if they’re for IVF then they would have passed Thursday’s proposal.
“Protecting IVF should have been the easiest yes vote the Senate has taken all year. Republicans cannot say they’re a pro family but then vote against protecting IVF. But that’s exactly what they did,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said.
Republicans did push forward their own IVF protection bill this week at the Capitol, but that was blocked by Democrats on Wednesday.
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