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    • E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil. – E. Christian Brugger is a Senior Fellow of Ethics and Director of the Fellows Program at the Culture of Life Foundation in Washington, D.C. and the J. Francis Cardinal Stafford Professor of Moral Theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado. He has Master degrees in moral theology and moral philosophy from Seton Hall, Harvard and Oxford Universities and received his D.Phil. (Ph.D.) in Christian ethics from Oxford in 2000.  Christian has published over 200 articles in scholarly and popular periodicals on topics in bioethics, sexual ethics, natural law theory, as well as the interdisciplinary field of psychology and Christian anthropology.  He lives on a farm in Evergreen, Colorado, with his wife Melissa and five children.
    • Helen Alvaré, J.D. – Helen Alvaré, J.D. is Honorary Fellow in Law at the Culture of Life Foundation.   Helen is an Associate Professor of Law at the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia where she teaches and publishes in the areas of property law, family law, and Catholic social thought. Professor Alvaré serves as Consultor for the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute where she chairs the Conscience Protection Task Force, is President of the Chiaroscuro Foundation and most recently Editor and Co-Author of Breaking Through: Catholic Women Speak for Themselves.From 2000 to Spring 2008, Professor Alvare taught at the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. Professor Alvare also lectures widely in the United States and Europe on matters concerning marriage, family and respect for human life. She is a consultant to ABC News and to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Marriage and Pro-Life Committees. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named Professor Alvare a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity.From 1987-2000, Professor Alvare was an attorney with the USCCB’s General Counsel Office and director of information and planning for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. In these positions, she testified before the…
    • Jennifer Kimball Watson, Be.L. – Jennifer Kimball Watson joined Culture of Life Foundation as Executive Director in November of 2007. She is an Adjunct Professor of Bioethics at the Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, F.L.. Previous to her work with the Culture of Life Foundation Jennifer was a Wilbur Fellow of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal located in Michigan. Jennifer earned a Licentiate in Bioethics from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum School of Bioethics in Rome.  Her prior undergraduate studies were in International Administration and Government Policy at the Evergreen State College in Washington State.Jennifer’s areas of specialization include Eugenics in Artificial Reproductive Technologies, Heterologous Adoption and Transfer of Embryos, The Womb in Reproductive Technologies, and the Role and Significance of The Medical Act. She interviews with National Conservative and Christian Radio Syndicates as well as several foreign and secular reporters. Jennifer has spoken on the dignity of women and women’s social issues to various audiences since 1999 and has spent several years in advocacy work with various international organizations in the field of life sciences. From 2000 to 2006 she recruited and coordinated grass-roots social policy efforts that consisted of a public and private sector network of professionals and academics…
    • Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D. – Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D., is Culture of Life Foundation’s Associate Fellow in Law. Maggie is member of Washington, D.C. and Maryland bar associations.  She holds a B.A. in Philosophy (Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude) and a Certificate in Classical Philosophy from the University Honors Program at The Catholic University of America. She earned a Juris Doctorate from Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America, where she served as a Research Fellow at CUA Law’s Marriage Law Project. She also studied Roman Law and EU Law at Magdalene College, University of Oxford, England.A former Fellow and Staff Counsel for Americans United for Life, Datiles co-authored an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark partial birth abortion case, Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, et al., companion case to Gonzales v. Carhart (2007). She also advised legislators, policy groups and the media (radio and newspapers) on abortion and bioethics laws and drafted pro-life model legislation.Her areas of research and/or publication include legal issues surrounding abortion, government funding restrictions for abortion, contraception, healthcare rights of conscience, stem cell research, artificial reproductive technology, population decline, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage.She currently publishes articles…
    • William E. May – William E. May is Senior Research Fellow of the Culture of Life Foundation and emeritus Michael J. McGivney Professor of Moral Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he taught the academic years from 1991 through 2008 after teaching for 20 years at The Catholic University of America. He is the author of more than a dozen books. The 2nd edition of his Catholic Bioethics and the Gift of Human Life was published by Our Sunday Visitor (2008), and a substantively revised 3rd edition is scheduled for publication in 2013. In 2003 Our Sunday Visitor published a revised and expanded edition of his Introduction to Moral Theology. Among his other books are: Marriage: The Rock on Which the Family Is Built (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1995; 2nd revised edition, 2009)); and, with Ronald Lawler OFM Cap and Joseph Boyle, Catholic Sexual Ethics (rev. and enlarged ed. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1998; 2nd rev. edition, 1998; a 3rd edition, substantively revised by May alone, was published in 2011); Theology of the Body: Genesis and Growth (Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 2010) He has published more…
    • Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D. – Dr. Frank Moncher received his Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina in 1992, following which he spent several years on faculty of the Medical College of Georgia, with a focus on Adolescent Intensive Services. In 2000 he moved to the Washington, DC area to teach at a graduate school of psychology which had a mission of integrating the science of psychology in the context of the Catholic Christian view of the human person. Concurrent with this, over the past 12 years he has consulted with 11 different religious orders and 4 dioceses to provide psychological evaluations of aspirants and candidates, as well as consulting with different diocesan marriage tribunals.His research interests include the integration of Catholic thought into psychotherapy, child and family development issues, and integrated models of assessment of candidates for the priesthood and religious life. Frank is published in Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, Adolescence, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Edification, and the Journal of Psychology and Christianity, as well as contributing to several book chapters on children, families, and religious issues.Since 2010, Dr. Moncher has worked for the Diocese of Arlington and Catholic Charities as a psychologist and consultant.  His…
    • Steve Soukup – Fellow in Culture and Economy Steve Soukup is the Vice President and Publisher of The Political Forum, an “independent research provider” that delivers research and consulting services to the institutional investment community, with an emphasis on economic, social, political, and geopolitical events that are likely to have an impact on the financial markets in the United States and abroad. Mr. Soukup has followed politics and federal regulatory policy for the financial community since coming to Washington in 1996, when he joined Mark Melcher at the award-winning Washington-research office of Prudential Securities. While at Prudential, he was part of the Washington team that placed first in Institutional Investor magazine’s annual analyst survey for eight years in a row. Mr. Soukup left Prudential with Mr. Melcher to join Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2000 and stayed there for two years, before leaving early in 2003 to become a partner at The Political Forum. While at Lehman, Mr. Soukup authored macro-political commentary and followed policy developments in the Natural Resources sector group, focusing on agriculture and energy policy. He also headed Lehman’s industry-leading analysis of asbestos litigation reform efforts. At The Political Forum, Mr. Soukup was initially the editor and junior partner,…
    • Dr. Pilar Calva, M.D. – Dr. Calva is a medical doctor specializing in Human Genetics with a Cytogenetics subspecialty from The University of Paris, France. In Paris, she was the under-study to the world-renowned Professor Jerome Lejeune, who is considered by some to be the father of modern genetics. In 1958, Lejeune discovered that an extra 21st chromosome is responsible for Down syndrome, or Trisomy 21. Lejeune dedicated his life tirelessly and unfailingly to defend the unborn, especially those with Down syndrome, testifying before scientific conferences and lawmakers. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II as the first President of the Pontifical Academy for Life. In Dr. Calva’s own words: When I arrived in France, I lived a life divided between faith and reason. I thought that from Monday to Saturday, I put on my white coat for my scientific tasks, and Sunday was the day I took off the white coat, put on my crucifix and dedicated myself to my religious duties. Professor Lejeune truly converted me, making me see that one can wear the white coat and the cross, at the same time. That is, one can fly with the wing of faith and the wing of reason. Inspired by the life…
    • Elyse M. Smith – Elyse M. Smith is an associate attorney with a northern Virginia law firm working in nonprofit and church law, estate planning, and civil litigation. Ms. Smith graduated magna cum laude from Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida, where she served on Law Review and was published in the Ave Maria International Law Journal. She was named “Most Dedicated Editor” for her work on Law Review. Ms. Smith earned her bachelor’s degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.  
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  >  Articles by: R. J. Snell, Ph.D.

R. J. Snell, Ph.D.

Persons, not Compost: How to Think About Dead Bodies

Posted: February 15, 2019
By: R. J. Snell, Ph.D.

“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Familiar words to many, a reminder of the shortness of life and the need to use our time well. While some may find the sentiment morbid, it is actually a … Read

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New York’s Take on Fundamental Rights

Posted: January 18, 2019
By: R. J. Snell, Ph.D.

In recent days, news outlets have reported on the likely passage of the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) in New York state.  Among other changes, the RHA repeals the requirement for abortion to be performed by a licensed physician and expands … Read

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Babies From Three Parents

Posted: May 15, 2018
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

An essay recently published in the Journal of Medical Ethics argues that “three-parent embryo” technologies (3-PETs) should be made accessible to lesbian couples where both women want to be genetically related to the children they create. Currently, 3-PETS are only legal in the UK, and only for addressing a rare degenerative condition. Should their use be expanded in the name of “reproductive freedom,” or should the welfare of the children to be created also be considered? Read

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The Truth About Bathrooms and Sex

Posted: April 18, 2017
By: Elyse M. Smith

“Joel Doe” is a junior at Boyertown Area High School. Last October, he was in the boys’ locker room standing in his underwear, when he looked across the room and saw another student, standing in her bra. Rather embarrassed, Joel reported the incident to the principal, who, did…absolutely nothing. Joel is now suing for sexual harassment under the same regulation the female student was using to gain access to the boys’ locker room. As we celebrate the Octave of Easter, too many are still asking “What is truth?” Read

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The Nuclear Option – From Bork To Gorsuch

Posted: April 12, 2017
By: William L. Saunders, Esq.

The Supreme Court and nuclear war. It’s an odd conjunction, yet the recent confirmation of Neil Gorsuch concludes a thirty years’ war over the Court, the first salvo of which was fired in 1987 in the successful effort to defeat the nomination of Robert Bork. Senator Ted Kennedy led that charge claiming that with Bork’s appointment “women would be forced into back-alley abortions.” In the intervening years, untold procedural maneuvers have been employed by Senators to defend a “right” that legal jurists of all stripes acknowledge doesn’t really exist. Read

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Moral Chaos And Despair

Posted: April 11, 2017
By: Steve Soukup

Two years ago, economics professors at Princeton shocked the academic and political worlds with a ground-breaking study that showed the death rate among middle-aged, working-class whites has been increasing dramatically since the turn of the century. Last month, a follow-up study showed that those trends are increasing. What is it about our brave new world that is taking such a toll on this particular group of people? Read

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Human-Animal Hybrids from Stem Cells: What are They?

Posted: April 6, 2017
By: Dr. Pilar Calva, M.D.

It’s a pig. It’s a cow. It’s a baby human. It’s a baby human-pig-cow. As science continues to “advance” the combining of genes from man and animals, we are obligated to ask: Just what are we creating, and to what dignity is our creation entitled? Read

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Child Custody Unhinged

Posted: March 23, 2017
By: Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D.

A New York State Supreme Court justice recently granted three adults shared custody of a 10-year-old boy. It seems that the biological father and his wife had an ongoing romantic relationship with a female neighbor, who conceived and bore the child; the married couple later divorced, and the two women now live together. When “contemporary forms of the family” crash into the lives of small children, what is a judge to do? Read

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Gender Ideology and Sexual Diversity: Feelings Trumping Reason

Posted: March 2, 2017
By: Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D.

Today, the Virginia Supreme Court is hearing the Lafferty, et al. v. School Board of Fairfax County transgender bathroom case. Further north, the New Hampshire legislature is now following in the footsteps of bills in New Jersey and California that would ban sexual reorientation therapy for children, and a toy company is unveiling a transgender doll to market to our children. Such emotive activism attempting to legitimize gender ideology and limit the rights of others who do not agree, abounds. But, there are good things happening, too… Read

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Porn Harms: Law and Science Reflect Natural Truth

Posted: February 14, 2017
By: Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D.

In an overwhelming (82-8) bipartisan vote, the Virginia House of Delegates approved a measure earlier this month recognizing that pornography leads to societal and individual harms, joining Utah and South Dakota as states that are recognizing pornography’s adverse effects. While religious groups have long recognized the destructive impact of pornography, and the sciences have begun documenting this phenomena increasingly over the past several years, it is significant that another legislature is seeing the need to codify this truth. Read

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