Politico reports:

The Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest and most politically powerful Protestant denomination, voted Wednesday to oppose in vitro fertilization.

The move may signal the beginning of a broad turn on the right against IVF, an issue that many evangelicals, anti-abortion advocates and other social conservatives see as the “pro-life” movement’s next frontier — one they hope will eventually lead to restrictions, or outright bans, on IVF at the state and federal levels.

The vote comes as Democrats in Washington, hoping to drive a wedge among Republicans, prepare to hold a vote on legislation to protect IVF, while former President Donald Trump struggles with how to message to evangelicals on abortion and other reproductive health issues that they would like to see him take stronger positions on in the post-Roe era.

IVF has come under increasing scrutiny since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision two years ago. Many on the right have begun to question whether the practice, which often discards fertilized eggs, is at odds with their beliefs on when life begins, even as it is relied upon by millions of Americans to grow their families and is supported by the overwhelming majority of evangelicals. [Continue reading…]