Former SBC Professor and ERLC Fellow Defends Women Having Abortions, Rebukes Al Mohler for Wanting to Hold Them Accountable

Former Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary professor, Karen Swallow Prior, is under fire for defending women's right to choose to have abortions in a recent article for Religion News Service titled, "Mohler and the abortion abolitionists don't take sin seriously enough." Prior, who identifies as pro-life, criticized President Trump and called for the preservation of Roe v. Wade in a series of tweets following the leak of a draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court would overturn Roe in 2022. In response to Prior's comments, many conservatives, including those in her Southern Baptist denomination, criticized her "pro-life creds."

In her most recent piece, Prior argues that Al Mohler and other abortion abolitionists do not take the sin of abortion seriously enough, emphasizing that women should not be held morally accountable for seeking abortions. She argues that society must balance justice and mercy when addressing systemic issues and cites examples such as slavery, where society took time to reckon with its normalization. Prior concludes that abolitionists' perspectives on abortion prosecution fail to recognize that women who seek abortions are "feeling free" and that this sentiment is worth protecting.

This article represents a drastic change in Prior's views, as she previously criticized President Trump for placing conservative justices on the Supreme Court who would potentially overturn Roe v. Wade. Following the leak of the draft opinion, Prior took to Twitter to express her discontent with Trump, stating that despite identifying as pro-life, she did not want Roe v. Wade overturned if it meant Trump would be in office for four more years. This sentiment drew the ire of many conservative Southern Baptists.

Title: Former SBC Professor and ERLC Fellow Defends Women Having Abortions, Rebukes Al Mohler for Wanting to Hold Them Accountable

Content: This article is a news report about a recent opinion piece written by former Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary professor, Karen Swallow Prior. In her piece, Prior defends women's right to choose to have abortions and rebukes Al Mohler, in particular, and the abortion abolitionist movement in general for holding the view that women are morally culpable for seeking to terminate the lives of their unborn children. Prior argues that society must balance justice and mercy when addressing issues such as slavery and that abolitionists' perspectives on abortion prosecution fail to recognize that women who seek abortions are "feeling free" and that this sentiment is worth protecting.

This is an interesting counterpoint to Prior's previous comments, in which she criticized President Trump for placing conservative justices on the Supreme Court who would potentially overturn Roe v. Wade. Following the leak of the draft opinion, Prior took to Twitter to express her discontent with Trump and stated that despite identifying as pro-life, she did not want Roe v. Wade overturned if it meant Trump would be in office for four more years. This drew the ire of many conservative Southern Baptists.