On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a historic decision, the Dobbs ruling, reversing Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which together had made abortion the law of the land.
On April 13 and 14, 2023, The Institute for Faith & Freedom will bring some of America’s leading intellectuals, advocates, and commentators together on the campus of Grove City College to discuss what has happened since and what is next for the pro-life movement.
“Post Roe America” is the theme of this year’s IFF Conference. The lineup of speakers is a “who’s who” of notable pro-life activists and thinkers, including Abby Johnson, Elisha Krauss, Alexandra DeSanctis, and Kathryn Jean Lopez.
In addition to the stellar lineup of guest and keynote speakers, the conference features the scholarship of faculty members and the work of IFF Student Fellows.
Pro-lifers celebrated the Dobbs decision while pro-choicers mourned. The reality, however, is that the high court’s decision will not end abortion in America. It has instead sent the issue back to the states, each of which is now in the process of responding with a myriad of new statewide abortions laws, some of them more restrictive and some of them more expansive.
The Supreme Court’s ruling means a whole new world for the pro-life and pro-choice movements and many new questions. What does “post-Roe America” mean? What will such an America look like? What does Dobbs really mean for abortion legislation going forward? What did Roe mean? Where does activism and the law go from here? How are churches responding? What does this mean for faith and freedom?
For a complete schedule or to register for the conference, visit faithandfreedom.com.
Speakers at “Post-Roe America” include:
- Abby Johnson is an anti-abortion activist who previously worked as Planned Parenthood clinic director but resigned in 2009 after watching an abortion on ultrasound. She became an advocate for life in the womb and helps clinic workers escape the abortion industry. Abby shared her story at the 2020 Republican National Convention and wrote the book “Unplanned,” which chronicles both her experiences with Planned Parenthood and her dramatic exit.
- Elisha Krauss is a conservative commentator, writer, and podcaster. Currently, she is a host of The Washington Examiner Newsmaker Series. Previously she was a co-host and contributor at the Daily Wire, hosted a morning drive radio show in Los Angeles with Ben Shapiro, and produced the syndicated Sean Hannity Radio Show. She has also worked with Truth Revolt as a grassroots organizer and writer, PragerU as their Director of Outreach, and ran a congressional campaign in her home state of Oklahoma.
- Kathryn Jean Lopez is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, where she directs the Center for Religion, Culture, and Civil Society. She is also editor-at-large of National Review magazine, where she has been on staff 1997. She is published widely in Catholic and secular publications and is also a nationally syndicated columnist. Lopez currently serves as chair of Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s Pro-Life Commission in New York.
- Alexandra DeSanctis is a writer at National Review, where she covers politics, elections, culture, and abortion policy. She has been a regular commentator on NR’s podcast “The Editors.” Her writing has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. She speaks for high-school and college audiences across the country about abortion and the pro-life movement. DeSanctis is co-author of “Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing.”
- Michael Medved hosts a daily talk radio show and podcast that combines politics and pop culture, history and values. He is also a New York Times best-selling author. An honors graduate of Yale, he also attended Yale Law School and has worked as both a political speechwriter and Hollywood screenwriter. He is a member of USA TODAY‘s Board of Contributors and his pieces appear frequently in the Wall Street Journal and Commentary..
- Clarke Forsythe serves as senior counsel at Americans United for Life and is author of “Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade.” Clarke has argued cases before federal and state courts and has testified before Congress and state legislatures. He is also a prolific writer on pro-life policy issues, having published more than 19 law review articles and book chapters, as well as articles in First Things, the Wall Street Journal, and National Review.
- Brad Lingo ’00 is the dean of Regent University School of Law, and the co-founder and executive director of the university’s Robertson Center for Constitutional Law. The Grove City College alumnus’ research and advocacy focus on constitutional law and religious liberty. His work has been widely published and he has filed amicus briefs on behalf of religious organizations and in U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Fulton v. City of Philadelphia and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
- Dr. Anne Hendershott is professor of Sociology and director of the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where she has taught since 2013. She also served as Director of the Politics, Philosophy and Economics Program at the King’s College. She is a contributor to the op-ed pages of newspapers and journals, including The Chronicle of Higher Education, National Review and American Spectator. She is the author of seven books including “The Politics of Envy.”
- Lucia Hunt is a Veritas Center Undergraduate Fellow and junior Theology and Pre-Law major at Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is actively involved in the Pro-life movement and curated the Stop Aborted Fetal Experiments National Conference at the University of Pittsburgh in November 2021 in response to their fetal cell research. Lucia works for First Liberty Institute as an administrative and legal intern.
- Mikayla Covington is the Director of International Operations at Promise of Life Network, a medical pregnancy network with physical offices that serve five counties in western Pennsylvania, and an international chatline that has served over 15,000 women from 63 countries.
For more about The Institute for Faith & Freedom, visit faithandfreedom.com.