Falwell would later maintain that this political crusade had begun, for him, in 1973, the moment he read of the court’s decision in Roe. But that was far from the case. Southern Baptists had, in fact, earlier fought for the liberalization of abortion laws. In 1971, the church’s national convention, meeting in Missouri, passed this resolution: “We call upon Southern Baptists to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the
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