November 11, 2026
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Georgia Baptists strongly opposed the use of abortion pills and affirmed that human personhood begins at fertilization in two resolutions approved Tuesday during the 204th annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention.
The resolutions call for stronger legal protections for unborn children, including efforts to stop the distribution of abortion pills and recognition of unborn children as persons entitled to constitutional protection.
David Mills, pastor of Beallwood Baptist Church in Columbus and chairman of the Resolutions Committee, presented the measures to messengers meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins.
One resolution calls for action against the manufacture, sale, and mailing of drugs used to induce abortions.
Mills told messengers that the increasing use of abortion pills has changed the way abortions are performed, allowing the drugs to be obtained without an in-person visit to a physician and, in some cases, sent through the mail.
The resolution calls for federal action against the approval and distribution of abortion pills and urges enforcement of federal laws restricting the mailing of abortion-related drugs.
A second resolution goes further in defining when Georgia Baptists believe legal personhood should begin.
“We’ve usually talked about how life begins in conception,” Mills said. “We are asking for us to recognize it begins in fertilization. And that is a distinction with a difference.”
Mills said the use of the word “fertilization” is intended to include human embryos created through reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization, as well as those created through natural reproduction.
“The moment an egg is fertilized, that is a human being,” he said, “a person that should enjoy 14th Amendment protections and all the protections outlined in Scripture.”
The resolution affirms unborn children as persons from fertilization and calls for legal protections consistent with that position, including an amendment to the Georgia Constitution recognizing the personhood of unborn children.
Mills said the resolutions are ultimately rooted in the convention’s belief in the sanctity of human life and the responsibility of churches to proclaim the gospel.The full text of the two resolutions follows:
RESOLUTION ON OPPOSING THE USE OF ABORTION PILLS IN OUR SOCIETY
WHEREAS, Scripture teaches that all human life is sacred, created in the image of God from the moment of conception (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41), and that God’s people are called to protect the innocent and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8-9); and
WHEREAS, The Georgia Baptist Convention has consistently affirmed the dignity and sanctity of preborn life at all stages; and
WHEREAS, we give thanks to God for the United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal guarantee of abortion access; and
WHEREAS, despite this legal victory, abortion tragically persists due to the rising prevalence and promotion of chemical abortion, particularly through the drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol, which accounted for approximately two-thirds of all abortions; and
WHEREAS, Mifepristone works by blocking the hormone progesterone, depriving the developing baby of necessary nourishment, followed by misoprostol, which induces contractions to expel the deceased child, resulting in both the death of the child and often significant physical, emotional, and always spiritual harm to the mother; and
WHEREAS, Women are often denied full, truthful, and compassionate information about chemical abortion, which is increasingly administered through impersonal and unsafe means like telehealth and mail-order services—methods that can easily be misused or abused—while shield laws in some states enable the mailing of these drugs into states with abortion restrictions, undermining both the rule of law and the protection of unborn life; and
WHEREAS, A 2025 study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center found that serious adverse events—such as hemorrhaging, sepsis, infection, and emergency surgery—occurred in a significantly higher percentage of women who underwent mifepristone abortions than the rates previously reported by the Food and Drug Administration, revealing that the actual risks far exceed what is stated on the drug’s label; and
WHEREAS, these outcomes have been exacerbated by the weakening of the Food and Drug Administration’s safeguards—including the removal of in-person physician oversight and mandatory adverse event reporting—endangering women and reducing public accountability; and
WHEREAS, the original approval process for mifepristone wrongly labeled pregnancy as a “serious or life-threatening illness,” thus treating a natural and healthy condition as a pathology and undermining the dignity of both mother and child; and
WHEREAS, there is no doubt that God’s Word (James 1:27) calls his church to defend both mother and child and to advocate for a culture of life marked by truth, compassion, and care; now
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the messengers to the Georgia Baptist Convention meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins, Ga, November 8-10, 2026, reaffirm the immeasurable value of every human life, both born and preborn; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we grieve the continued destruction of preborn lives through chemical abortion and condemn the exploitation of women by an abortion industry increasingly reliant on dangerous drugs and deceptive practices; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon the Food and Drug Administration to immediately revoke its approval of mifepristone and any other abortion drug, restore all previously removed safety protocols, and reevaluate chemical abortion drugs using real-world data; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the United States Congress and Georgia State Legislature to pass laws doing as much as they can to reach the goal of totally banning the manufacture, sale, and distribution of chemical abortion drugs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the federal government enforces the Comstock Act prohibiting the mailing of abortion pills, and to hold accountable pharmaceutical companies and medical providers complicit in these harms; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we encourage pastors, churches, and ministries to speak the truth about abortion, to equip their congregations to care for women in crisis with compassion and practical support, and to proclaim the healing hope of the gospel; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call on those considering abortion, chemical or otherwise, to pursue alternative solutions which protect and promote the life of the baby and mother; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we commit ourselves to fostering a culture of life through the tangible support of pregnancy resource centers, adoption efforts, maternal health care, and compassionate ministry to post-abortive women; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we commit to pray and labor for the establishment of a society and governmental laws that head in the direction of cherishing and defending every human life from conception to natural death as much as is possible; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we encourage all pastors, churches and Christian ministries to teach on the importance of understanding a Biblical worldview on God’s perspective of the sanctity of all human life; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution be forwarded to Georgia’s Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House and the sitting state senators and representatives who represent the people of Georgia.
RESOLUTION ON PERSONHOOD AND THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
WHEREAS, the Bible affirms the personhood, sanctity, dignity and value of every human being from the moment of our individual creation, as evidenced by the fact that we are created in the image of God and are known by God while being formed in the womb (Genesis 1:26-27, James 3:9, Jeremiah 1:5, Luke 1:13-15,35,36); and
WHEREAS, God alone is the Creator and Giver of life and the one distinguishing feature between humanity and the rest of creation is that God created human beings in HIS image and likeness (Job 10:8-12, 12:10, 31:15, 33:4; 1 Samuel 2:6, Psalm 100:3, 139:13-16, Isaiah 64:8, Colossians 1:16); and
WHEREAS, members of the human family originate ultimately from the laws of nature and of nature’s God, who created human life in His image and protected it with the commandment: “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13); and
WHEREAS, all innocent human life must be respected and protected regardless of race, sex, age or condition of dependency and regardless of manner of fertilization and are persons of equal and immeasurable worth and of inviolable dignity (2 Kings 24: 3,4, Psalm 106:37-39, 1 Corinthians 10:20); and
WHEREAS, they must be recognized and treated in a manner commensurate with this moral status (Leviticus 18:21, 30); and
WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence, states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and that governments are instituted in order to secure these rights (Romans 13:1-7), and
WHEREAS, the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law" (Micah 6:7,8); and
WHEREAS, the Georgia Baptist Convention believes that the Scriptures are inerrant, trustworthy, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried (Psalm 19:7-10, 2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12); and
WHEREAS, the Georgia Baptist Convention has a long Biblical tradition of strong support for traditional family values including the right to life for all persons in Georgia from fertilization to natural death;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Georgia Baptist Convention will work to assist the Church as it seeks to affirm the personhood of every human being; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Georgia Baptist Convention expresses its support for an amendment to the Georgia Constitution which would specify that the protections guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution apply to preborn children; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that all Georgia Baptist pastors and churches be encouraged to emphasize the Scriptural principles of this resolution as part of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the messengers to the Georgia Baptist Convention meeting at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins, Georgia on November 9-10, 2026, encourage all believers to pray that God will continue changing the hearts and minds of Americans on the Gospel, the issues of the sanctity of human life, and the personhood of all individuals, both born and preborn; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be forwarded to those seated in 2027 in the Georgia Government and leadership, including the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House, State Senators and Representatives, and United States Senators and Representatives who represent the people of Georgia.
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