Explainer: What you should know about COVID-19 booster vaccines

Federal regulators are likely to approve booster vaccines for all three approved COVID-19 vaccines — Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson — starting six months after inoculation, according to recent news reports. The Biden administration and companies have said that there should be enough supply for boosters that they plan to begin distributing more widely on Sept. 20.

This Week in Washington, D.C.

• As the situation in Afghanistan continues to develop hourly, the ERLC continues to urge the Biden administration to honor his commitment to stand with our Afghan allies who put themselves and their families at risk by standing with and supporting the mission of the United States government. The ERLC has also called for priority 2 refugee status for other Afghans likely to be at risk of persecution under Taliban rule, including Christians and other religious minorities, women and girls who have pursued the opportunity for education, and others associated with the U.S. presence in Afghanistan who may not qualify for Special Immigrant Visas.
  
  For further reading: Why the U.S. should provide Priority 2 refugee status for Afghans fleeing persecution
   
• Additionally, in August, Congress typically takes several weeks of recess, and and on the Capitol Conversations podcast, we take a break from our usual policy focused conversations and host interviews with leaders we admire. This week, Chelsea Sobolik sits down with Yuval Levin of the American Enterprise Institute to discuss the importance of institutions, his time serving at the White House during the President George W. Bush’s administration, and his immigrant story. Listen here.

From The Public Square

What You Need to Read

Jason Thacker with  Why Christians should navigate questions of vaccine mandates and religious exemptions with wisdom

Many denominations, including the Southern Baptist Convention, have long supported vaccines, advocated for their use, and even assisted in distribution. In recent decades, the International Mission Board has become one of the largest vaccine-givers — beginning with the ground-breaking polio vaccines in the 1950s — throughout the eastern United States. This is due to the necessity of vaccines in order to send missionaries across the world to share the hope of Christ to the nations.

Julie Masson with 3 ways parents can talk to their kids about Afghanistan

The news about the Taliban taking over Afghanistan is nearly unavoidable, and rightly so. We are watching a horrific human rights atrocity happen before our very eyes. Our children are likely seeing the images but are not as tuned in to this historic event, and that’s OK. But as Christian parents, it’s important that we teach our children to mourn with those who mourn. Here are three things my husband and I did with our children to help them understand what is happening right now and how Christians should respond.

Jordan Wootten with Explainer: Texas law banning abortion procedure upheld by court of appeals

Last week, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court in New Orleans, Louisiana, upheld a Texas law prohibiting certain uses of an abortion method known as dilation and evacuation (D&E), a procedure “commonly used to end second-trimester pregnancies.” The law, officially known as Senate Bill 8 as it was being considered by the Legislature, was initially blocked by a “three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals” just last year but was granted a re-hearing by the full court at the request of the state of Texas. As a result, the law was officially upheld by the court.

This Week at the ERLC

• The ERLC hosted an online event on religious freedom challenges around the globe featuring Paul Miller, Todd Lafferty, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik, and Brent Leatherwood. Watch a replay here.
   
• Chelsea Patterson Sobolik talked to Baptist Press about the Chinese government’s expansion of its population-control policy to permit three children per family, calling it "an unacceptable encroachment on liberty and the sanctity of human life."

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