Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

The Alliance Defend­ing Free­dom (ADF), found­ed in 1993, is among the most orga­nized and influ­en­tial Chris­t­ian legal advo­ca­cy groups in the Unit­ed States, known for its expan­sive bud­get, strate­gic lit­i­ga­tion port­fo­lio, and exten­sive net­work of affil­i­at­ed attor­neys. ADF has played a cen­tral role in shap­ing the legal agen­da of the Amer­i­can right, oppos­ing abor­tion, LGBTQ+ rights, and aspects of pub­lic health law under the ban­ner of pro­tect­ing reli­gious free­dom. Its influ­ence reach­es into the high­est lev­els of gov­ern­ment: Speak­er of the House Mike John­son is a for­mer ADF attor­ney, and oth­er promi­nent fig­ures linked to the orga­ni­za­tion include Supreme Court Jus­tice Amy Coney Bar­rett, for­mer Vice Pres­i­dent Mike Pence, and for­mer Attor­neys Gen­er­al William Barr and Jeff Ses­sions. Sen­a­tor Josh Haw­ley and his wife Erin Haw­ley also have ties to ADF, the lat­ter serv­ing as senior coun­sel. Under the Trump admin­is­tra­tion, ADF became one of the most influ­en­tial groups advis­ing exec­u­tive branch legal pol­i­cy. Despite its promi­nence, the South­ern Pover­ty Law Cen­ter has des­ig­nat­ed ADF as an anti-LGBTQ hate group due to its con­sis­tent efforts to lim­it the rights of LGBTQ+ indi­vid­u­als in the U.S. and abroad.

Ref­er­ences

• Alliance Defend­ing Free­dom – InfluenceWatch

• The Legal Mus­cle Behind the Chris­t­ian Right’s Inter­na­tion­al Agen­da – TIME

• The Anti-abor­tion Activists Who Want to Rewrite U.S. Law – The Guardian

• Erin Haw­ley Argues Abor­tion Pill Case – Wall Street Journal

• Alliance Defend­ing Free­dom – Wikipedia

• SPLC Extrem­ist Files: Alliance Defend­ing Free­dom – SPLC