ADF has been deeply concerned about the rise of politicized debanking for years and has worked diligently to combat this unlawful behavior at every turn, including partnering with state legislators and federal officials to secure the fundamental freedoms of every American.

“If our national education system continues to claim to foster inclusion and tolerance, this must include tolerance of perspectives with which others disagree. In a free and just society, teachers should not be fired for honestly expressing their deeply-held beliefs in response to questions in the classroom. What happened to me is nothing short of censorship, and this precedent cannot be allowed to stand.”

“Standing silently and holding certain beliefs in a public space should never be a crime. Yet, despite being vindicated of wrongdoing on multiple occasions and receiving a financial settlement after two wrongful arrests, I was once again charged last year for my mere presence within a “buffer zone”, and have today received fresh charges. I am deeply troubled by this violation of the basic right to my own thoughts and to my deeply-held Christian pro-life convictions. I pray that common sense and freedom will prevail, so that no one else has to face criminal treatment for what they believe.“ — Isabel Vaughan-Spruce

The American people deserve the thorough report on abortion drug safety that the FDA has promised for nearly two years, but the agency has again failed to deliver it. The FDA now says it won’t release its final study until March. That will be too late for nearly 90,000 unborn babies who will die between now and then by illegally obtained abortion drugs in states like Louisiana that have taken great care to protect babies and mothers from the harms of abortion.

“There is growing psychiatric evidence that affirming a child’s gender dysphoria at school by using incorrect pronouns and names sets a vulnerable child down a path with lifelong consequences,” said ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer. “Children across the country have suffered for too long because of the lies of gender ideology. Schools must cease participating in this dangerous experimentation on kids and respect the right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and healthcare of their children.”

“Every child deserves a loving home, and children suffer when the government excludes people of faith from foster care because of the state’s own ideological crusade,” said ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse. “Oregon officials turned Jessica away just because of her common-sense belief that parents should help children become comfortable with who they are instead of pushing them down a path of confusion and medicalization. We believe this settlement is a win-win that protects constitutional rights and puts children’s interests first.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing the Christian Medical & Dental Associations and a Christian medical practice filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging a Colorado law that forces healthcare professionals to participate in so-called gender transition procedures for children and adults, even when doing so violates their religious, ethical, and medical judgment.

Attorneys with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Alliance Defending Freedom filed their opening merits brief at the U.S. Supreme Court Monday on behalf of a devout Orthodox Jew suing the city of University Heights, Ohio after officials required him to obtain a permit to pray in his home with a small group of friends. The Supreme Court agreed to hear Daniel Grand’s case after lower federal courts threw out his lawsuit and said he needed to finish the permitting process before vindicating his constitutional rights.

Luka Binniyat, a Kaduna-based journalist recognised as one of Nigeria’s preeminent voices reporting on the persecution of Christians in Southern Kaduna, has been formally cleared of criminal defamation charges after a five-year legal battle.

After an Idaho district court became the first federal court in the nation to “find” a new federal constitutional right to abortion post-Dobbs, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, serving alongside Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Wednesday to allow the state to protect the lives of unborn children and women.

A Finnish parliamentarian has been blocked from entering the UK to give an address on freedom of speech at a conference this week, following her criminal conviction for “hate speech” by Finland’s Supreme Court. Longstanding Christian politician Päivi Räsänen, who is a member of the Finnish Parliament’s “Friends of the United Kingdom” group, was due to give a talk in person this week about freedom of speech, at a religious freedom conference. However, in July, Räsänen was informed that her Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to the UK had been cancelled, despite her application initially being approved in June.

A Federal High Court in northern Nigeria has ruled that Islamic religious police have no authority to arrest a young woman over her conversion from Islam to Christianity, in a judgment that curbs the reach of Sharia enforcement units operating in northern Nigeria. The ruling came in the case of Sarah*, now 22, who fled her family home in Kano State in 2025 after suffering abuse from her elder siblings, who were also attempting to force her into marriage against her wishes. (Sarah’s parents had died years prior.) Sarah took refuge with a Christian family, the Abaras, and while living with them, converted to Christianity herself.

Iraq’s Court of Cassation has affirmed a previous ruling in favor of a young Christian woman, Maryam*, allowing her to have her official religious status corrected in the government’s database after she was automatically registered as Muslim under Iraqi law. The ruling from the country’s highest appellate court on personal status matters ordered the correction of Maryam’s religious classification and marks a strong step forward for religious freedom in cases of state-assigned religion, where Christians are inaccurately classified as Muslims in government-issued documents. 

A US commission established by President Donald Trump has highlighted Europe’s free speech crisis by referencing in a draft report the criminal convictions of an army veteran in the UK for silently praying, and a Christian politician in Finland for writing a church booklet. The Religious Liberty Commission, which was set up to advise and report to the US President on emerging threats to religious freedom, has delivered its draft report, which included citing international religious freedom concerns.  

“The government can’t force pro-life organizations to sabotage their own beliefs by requiring them to employ staff who endorse abortion—a decision that harms women and ends innocent lives,” said ADF Senior Counsel Bryan Neihart, who argued before the court on behalf of the pro-life groups. “The First Amendment protects the right of these organizations to hire employees who can carry out and share the message of hope and joy associated with the gift of life. For these pro-life groups, the messenger matters. The court made the right decision by protecting their constitutional freedom to hire employees who share their views in word and deed so that they can express messages consistent with their beliefs.”