Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST

Location: TBA

RSVP: rsvp@faithandlaw.org

The Obama administration’s mandate for contraceptive coverage in most private health plans raises issues that reach beyond a debate on contraception itself:  The government’s authority to infringe on religious freedom, and to define which groups are “religious enough” to warrant protection; the role of religious groups in serving the common good; and even the limits on government’s right to intervene between parents and their children.  This lecture will explore the broader implications of this debate for the role of believers in American society.

Richard M. Doerflinger is Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he has worked for 32 years. Among his duties is the preparation of policy statements and congressional testimony on abortion, euthanasia, conscience rights in health care, embryo research, and other medical-moral issues
for the bishops’ conference. He is also Adjunct Fellow in Bioethics and Public Policy at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, and serves on the Advisory Board to the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity in Bannockburn, Illinois.

Mr. Doerflinger has testified before Congress, the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, the National Institutes of Health, the President’s Council on Bioethics, and several state legislatures on the way public policy treats human life at its most vulnerable stages. His writings on medical ethics and public policy include contributions to The Journal of Law,
Medicine & Ethics, Hastings Center Report, Duquesne Law Review, Cell Proliferation, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, the Encyclopedia of Catholic Doctrine (Our Sunday Visitor Press 1997), the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, and the American Journal of Bioethics.  He holds a B.A. degree and an M.A. in Divinity from the University of Chicago, and conducted doctoral studies in Theology at that institution and the Catholic University of America.

In January 2009 Mr. Doerflinger became one of the first recipients of the Gerard Health Foundation’s “Life Prize,” honoring efforts to awaken the conscience of America to the sanctity of human life. In April 2011 he became the first recipient of the Evangelium Vitae Medal, awarded annually by the University of Notre Dame’s Fund to Protect Human Life “to honor individuals whose outstanding efforts have served to proclaim the Gospel of Life by steadfastly
affirming and defending the sanctity of human life from its earliest stages.”

Location: TBA

RSVP: rsvp@faithandlaw.org

Add description/bio here.

Location: TBA

RSVP: rsvp@faithandlaw.org

Location: TBA

RSVP: rsvp@faithandlaw.org

Dr. William Hurlbut is a physician and Consulting Professor at the Neuroscience Institute.  After receiving his undergraduate and medical training at Stanford University, he completed postdoctoral studies in theology and medical ethics.

His primary areas of interest involve the ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology, the biological basis of moral awareness, and studies in the integration of theology and philosophy of biology.  He is the author of numerous publications on science and ethics, including the co-edited volume Altruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Dialogue (2002, Oxford University Press), and “Science, Religion and Human Spirit” in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Science and Religion.  He is also co-chair of two interdisciplinary faculty projects at Stanford University, “Becoming Human: The Evolutionary Origins of Spiritual, Religious and Moral Awareness” and “Brain, Mind and Emergence.”

In addition to teaching at Stanford, Dr. Hurlbut has worked with NASA on projects in Astrobiology and is a member of the Chemical and Biological Weapon Warfare working group at the Center for International Security and Cooperation.  He has also served on the President’s Counsel of Bioethics.

Location: TBA

RSVP: rsvp@faithandlaw.org

Previous Lecturers Include:

Time: 12-1 p.m. EST

Location: 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Matthew Staver is the Dean and Professor of Law at Liberty University, as well as the Director of the Liberty Center for Law and Policy.  After completing his studies in religion and becoming a pastor, Dean Staver entered law school and the legal profession. Following law school, he worked in private practice with the law firm of Zimmerman, Shuffield, Kiser and Sutcliffe in Orlando, Florida. In 1989, Dean Staver became the Founder and President of Staver & Associates, a statewide law firm with offices in Orlando and Tallahassee, Florida. He also was the Founder and President of The Staver Group, a statewide governmental consulting organization. A few of his many clients included the Orlando Magic NBA basketball team, the University of Florida, Marriott Corporation, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Taco Bell, Denny’s Restaurants, AIG Insurance, The Florida Medical Association, The Florida Nursing Association, and Florida Hospital.

In 1989, Dean Staver became the Founder, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel and currently serves as Chairman of the Board. Liberty Counsel is a litigation, education and policy organization with offices in Orlando, Florida, Lynchburg, Virginia, and hundreds of affiliate attorneys in all 50 states. Liberty Counsel was one of the first religious liberty litigation organizations in the country. In the early 1990s, Dean Staver was one of the first to pioneer a new legal strategy and theory in litigating religious liberty cases, using the First Amendment Free Speech Clause.

As the Founder of Liberty Counsel, Dean Staver has been extensively involved in media. On average he conducted over 1,300 media interviews each year, resulting in several thousand print articles, radio broadcasts and TV programs. He has appeared on every TV and cable news network, on almost every network news program, and has conducted media interviews for many international media outlets. Dean Staver has produced and hosted hundreds of media programs for Liberty Counsel’s daily radio program Freedom’s Call, daily radio program Faith and Freedom, and weekly TV program Law & Justice.

Dean Staver serves as Director of the Liberty Center for Law and Policy (LCLP), a partnership between Liberty Counsel and Liberty University School of Law. He also was involved in the founding and development of Liberty University School of Law long before its physical inception.

A few of Dean Staver’s academic memberships and honors include Alpha Mu Gamma language honors; Moot Court Board, 1985-87; Captain, National Moot Court Team, 1986-87; Region IV National Moot Court Competition Championship Team, 1987; and The Order of Barristers. He was a recipient of Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, 1980 (selected by classmates and faculty).

Dean Staver has authored over ten books, including Eternal Vigilance: Knowing and Protecting Your Religious Freedom; Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk; Faith and Freedom: A Complete Handbook for Defending Your Religious Rights; Take Back America; Religion and the Future of America; Religious Expression in Public Schools; Judicial Tyranny; Political Activity of Nonprofit Organizations; and Union Membership and its Constitutional Implications. Dean Staver has over 210 published legal opinions, has written several hundred articles on religious freedom and constitutional law, and has published ten law review and journal articles.

Dean Staver is an AV-rated attorney and is Board Certified in Appellate Practice. At one time, he was one of only two attorneys double Board Certified in Workers’ Compensation and Appellate Practice in the state of Florida. In addition to writing numerous briefs before the United States Supreme Court, he has argued twice before the High Court. As one of the leading constitutional litigators in the country, he is admitted to every federal court of appeals in the country and has personally argued before most of them. He has conducted many CLE and CEU courses certified by state bar associations or government agencies.

Dean Staver reads Classical Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Koine Greek, and is the author of Quest for the Historical Jesus: An Inquiry Into the Historicity of the Passion Predictions. He is married to Anita L. Staver, who is also an attorney and serves as President of Liberty Counsel.