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Ralph Rodriguez serves as legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. He primarily assists members of the Church and Ministry Alliance with protecting their constitutional freedoms and navigating religious liberty issues. Prior to this role, Rodriguez served as regional alliance director at ADF where he worked with ministry and denominational leaders across the country to help acquaint them with ADF’s work and connect them to the CMA. Rodriguez began his legal career with ADF International as legal counsel at the United Nations where he advised delegations on matters related to life, family ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake regarding a formal comment ADF attorneys submitted Monday with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urging it to protect all Americans’ freedom to live out their conscientious and religious convictions: “Americans shouldn’t be forced to violate their ethical and religious beliefs. Yet, every year, countless medical practitioners needlessly suffer threats to their livelihoods and affronts to their faith just for asserting their rights to conscience and religious freedom. It’s ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Denise Burke regarding the House Appropriations Committee’s decision Thursday to approve a budget without the Hyde Amendment and other similar provisions that protect against taxpayer funding of abortion: “American taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund abortions or to subsidize the dangerous work of abortionists. Every innocent life deserves to be protected. Nearly 2.5 million lives have been saved by the Hyde Amendment since it went into effect 40 years ago. The majority of Americans support the Hyde Amendment ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Stephanie Nichols regarding Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson’s signing Friday of the Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, a bill sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer and Rep. Brandt Smith that protects doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals and organizations from being forced to participate in procedures, such as abortion, that violate their conscience: “Patients are best served by doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who are free to act ethically and consistent with their oath to ‘do no harm.’ The MED ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Bowman, director of regulatory practice, regarding a rule the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published Tuesday, Safeguarding the Rights of Conscience as Protected by Federal Statutes: “Americans shouldn’t be forced to violate their ethical and religious beliefs. Yet, every year, countless medical practitioners needlessly suffer threats to their livelihoods and affronts to their faith just for asserting their rights to conscience and religious freedom. In its rule, HHS suggests it will continue ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Christiana Kiefer regarding U.S. Rep. Gregory Steube’s introduction Wednesday of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which protects women’s sports by affirming that allowing males to compete on women’s teams violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for federally funded schools and colleges: “For over 50 years, Title IX has protected equal athletic opportunities for women. Sadly, radical activists—including members of the Biden administration—are threatening those opportunities by ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley regarding Houston Mayor Annise D. Parker’s decision Wednesday to withdraw the subpoena of sermons and other communications belonging to several area pastors in a lawsuit in which the pastors are not even involved: “The mayor really had no choice but to withdraw these subpoenas, which should never have been served in the first place. The entire nation--voices from every point of the spectrum left to right--recognize the city's action as a gross abuse of power. We are gratified that the First ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Denise Burke regarding Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto Friday of HB 2749, a bill designed to inform better support programs for mothers and their children, advance medical research, and protect the health of women by ensuring that the reasons why a woman chooses abortion are reported: “Women deserve real health care that supports them during pregnancy and provides alternatives to the grave risks that abortion poses to women’s physical and psychological health. We commend the Kansas Legislature for passing this ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Greg Chafuen regarding Gov. Brad Little’s signing Thursday of S 1352, a bill that strengthens existing law to ensure that counselors and therapists are not forced to counsel clients towards goals, outcomes, or behaviors that violate their conscience: “Everyone is served best when counselors and therapists can put their client’s best interest first. To do that, our laws should guarantee that counselors are not forced to provide counseling that conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs or that the ...

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Greg Baylor, director of the ADF Center for Religious Schools, regarding a public comment ADF attorneys submitted Monday to urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reconsider and rescind its conclusion that “gender dysphoria” can be a disability and consequently covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a federal law that protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their disability. Alternatively, ADF attorneys are asking HHS to provide significantly more ...