By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – The U.S. Supreme Court recessed from its 2024- 2025 term on June 26, having voted on 58 cases, decided another nine without ballots, and moved two to the 2025-26 term (which begins October 6) with a number addressing public policies that touch the homes, workplaces and ministries of Louisiana Baptists. VULNERABLE CHILDREN In United States v. Skrmetti, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 2023 Tennessee ban against “performing on a minor or administering to a minor a medical procedure if the performance or administration of the procedure is for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.” The Court’s ruling will impact 25 other states with similar statutes, including Louisiana whose lawmakers overrode a veto, by then-Governor John Bel Edwards, to make HB648 a law (Act 466). This 2023 legislation, authored by Rep. Gabe Firment, a deacon with the First Baptist Church, Pollock, prohibits “procedures to alter the sex of a minor child” and was largely influenced by the 2022 Louisiana Baptist Convention RESOLUTION 2: ON PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM THE PERMANENT PHYSICAL HARM OF SEX CHANGE … [Read more...]