With the Trump administration set to take office in just over two months, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is encouraging President-elect Donald Trump to reverse several policies the outgoing Biden administration implemented.

ERLC President Brent Leatherwood, who heads the public policy arm of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, sent a letter to Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon of the Trump transition team on Monday.

The correspondence highlights “five critical policy actions that reflect deeply held values ​​for Southern Baptists and warrant the incoming administration’s immediate attention during President Trump’s first 100 days in office.”

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He issues an executive order promising to enforce the Hyde Amendment

The first priority Leatherwood lists is for the administration to “reaffirm continued support for and fully implement the Hyde Amendment within government agencies.”

The Hyde Amendment is a long-standing way attached to government funding bills that prevent federal tax dollars from being used to pay for abortions. Leatherwood pointed out that an executive order reaffirming the Hyde Amendment “should explicitly direct federal agencies to stop funding abortion-related travel and abortion counseling by immediately ending such policies and implementing regulations if it is necessary”.

“By issuing an executive order committing to fully implement the Hyde Amendment, President Trump will usher in a renewed focus on protecting the lives and deeply held religious beliefs of taxpayers from government overreach,” Leatherwood wrote.

Reimplement the “Mexico City Policy”

Leatherwood called on Trump to “reimplement pro-life policy in global health care and similar pro-life domestic Title X policies.” Formerly known as the Mexico City Policy, the pro-life policy in global healthcare banned the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions abroad.

Trump implemented the Mexico City policy early in his first term, but President Joe Biden revoked it after taking office four years later.

Repeal Biden’s order on sexual orientation and gender identity

The third policy action Leatherwood has asked Trump to take involves revoking Biden’s Executive Order 13988, which aims to “Prevent and Combat Discrimination Based on Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.”

“This executive order from the Biden administration redefines ‘sex discrimination’ to include sexual orientation and gender identity while directing all federal agencies to implement this new definition through regulation,” Leatherwood wrote.

“Such regulation was specifically designed to circumvent the religious beliefs and conscience protections of millions of Americans regarding gender and sexuality, the misuse of taxpayer funds for ‘gender transitions’ and the promotion of radical gender ideology, even in among the children. By rescinding this harmful executive order, President Trump will assure millions of Americans that they will not be targeted by the federal government simply because they believe in biological realities or adhere to their religion. beliefs”.

Unwarranted regulation advanced by the Biden administration

Leatherwood called on Trump to “roll back the anti-life, anti-religious and pro-gender ideology regulations promoted by the Biden administration.”

Leatherwood singled out three rules in particular.

The first is a regulation of the US Department of Health and Human Services that the ERLC ADVISED would require faith-based hospitals to perform gender transition surgery, which has faced legal challenges.

Another is a Department of Education rule that the ERLC SAYS would require schools receiving federal funding to allow trans-identified male athletes to compete on women’s sports teams.

Leatherwood also said another HHS ruleVIEWED by the ERLC as requiring prospective adoptive parents to affirm the stated gender identities of trans-identified children.

Opt out of FDA’s relaxation of abortion pill requirements

In his final request, Leatherwood called on Trump to “reverse Biden’s (Food and Drug Administration) changes to the Risk Evaluation Strategy (REMS) requirements for mifepristone, which have expanded the reach of the abortion pill and threaten the health and safety of women “.

He noted that the Biden administration has taken steps to “allow the drug to be prescribed via telehealth without ever seeing a doctor in person and to allow the drug to be dispensed at local pharmacies.”

During his second presidential run, Trump expressed his support for allowing women to have access to the abortion pill and indicated that he would not enforce a law banning the distribution of the drug through the mail, while taking a stance that more conservative on certain LGBT issues.

The campaign pledged to “stop the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth,” calling on “Congress to permanently stop the use of federal taxpayer dollars to promote or pay for these procedures,” referring to gender transition procedures.

Trump also seeks to “declare that any hospital or health care provider that participates in the chemical or physical mutilation of young minors will no longer meet federal health and safety standards for Medicaid and Medicare — and will be revoked from the program.” He plans to ask Congress to declare that the Civil Rights Act’s Title IX, which requires equal opportunities for women and girls in education, bars trans-identified male athletes from participating in women’s sports.