Speakers

Thomas Glessner founded the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates nearly 30 years ago.

• NIFLA was the victor in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case defending the free speech rights of pregnancy centers and all Americans, NIFLA v. Becerra.
• Glessner has appeared on or been published by media brands such as Fox News, USA TODAY, Tucker Carlson, CBN News, EWTN, The 700 Club, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Townhall, National Review, The Federalist, Washington Post and many more.
• He is also the author of several books. His most recent book entitled “Created Equal: Reflections On The Unalienable Right To Life,” highlights the constitutional protection of our most vulnerable citizens, children in the womb.
• Glessner is a graduate of the University School of Law in Seattle, Washington and is a member of the bar associations for the states of Washington, Virginia, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Anne O’Connor has been with the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates since 1993. She served as general counsel until she joined the staff full-time as NIFLA Vice President of Legal Affairs.

During her time with NIFLA, O’Connor has been responsible for writing the monthly NIFLA Legal Tips, performing more than one thousand legal audits, consulting with hundreds of centers about the medical conversion process, and teaching at board trainings, conference workshops, webinars and at NIFLA’s Institute of Limited Obstetric Ultrasound.

• She has written and updated many of NIFLA’s publications, including the Legal Primer, the Medical Clinic Conversion Manual, the Medical Policies & Procedures, the Basic Operational Policies & Procedures, the Employment Handbook, and the HIPAA Voluntary Compliance Manual. 
• O’Connor acted as co-counsel on the pro-life Supreme Court case NIFLA v. Becerra.
• She has been published by or featured in media outlets such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Washington Examiner, CBN News and more.

Ms. Thomas serves as staff attorney for National Institute of Family and Life Advocates. Her work at NIFLA includes legal education and training for pregnancy centers, The Life Choice Project, board trainings, and legal audits. She is passionate about helping pregnancy centers develop holistic, sustainable models and about implementing new programs in building a culture of life.

• She is the associate director for Louisiana Right to Life, specializing in development, legislative advocacy, and education about life issues. Prior to these positions, she served as CEO of the Woman’s New Life Clinic, a professional counseling and medical clinic offering life-affirming services for women in unplanned pregnancies, port-abortive men and women, and women’s health. She led the effort to expand authentic women’s health services in south Louisiana, reclaiming reproductive healthcare and offering alternatives to Planned Parenthood.
• Ms. Thomas was trained through the Blackstone Fellowship, an intensive training in Christian worldview principles and how they apply to the study and interpretation of law. She worked for Americans United for Life and Bioethics Defense Fund during and following law school.
• Ms. Thomas is a graduate of the Manship School of Mass Communications at Louisiana State University (BA 2001, magna cum laude) and Loyola Law School (JD 2004, cum laude)

• Dr. Calhoun is a 1979 Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and graduated from the University of Iowa Medical School with an MD in 1983. He completed his residency in OB/GYN at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1987 and finished a Fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Oregon Health Sciences University in 1989. Calhoun is a diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology with board certification in general Obstetrics and Gynecology and in the sub-specialty of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. He also is also board certified in Addictions Medicine.
• He has authored 80 peer review articles in the obstetric and gynecologic literature, presented over 100 scientific papers, participated in over 40 research projects, and has published numerous articles on medical aspects of obstetrics and gynecology.
• Calhoun serves as professor and vice-chair in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the West Virginia University-Charleston and is directly involved in resident and medical student education. He is licensed in several states and continues to actively practice maternal-fetal medicine, perform diagnostic obstetrical ultrasound, participate in prenatal diagnosis counseling, and provide education to residents and medical students.

Mrs. Stout, Vice President of Medical Services with NIFLA, has been involved in pregnancy centers since 1987.

• While serving with pregnancy centers in Georgia and Oregon, her responsibilities included development of curriculum for post-abortive women, peer advocacy, speaking on life issues in schools and churches, board member, Nurse Manager, and facilitating their conversion to medical clinics. Cobb Pregnancy Services in Marietta, Georgia, where Stout served on the board of directors, was among the earliest pregnancy centers to convert to a medical clinic and offer sonograms. She was a sonographer in OB/GYN clinics with experience in high-risk sonography.
• As an instructor for NIFLA’s Institute in Limited Obstetrical Ultrasound since 2000, she challenges those who scan to continually pursue excellence in knowledge, skills, and service. Stout has been involved with the development and updating of NIFLA publications, including the course manual, policy and procedures, and writes NIFLA’s monthly Clinic Tips.
• Stout has a passion for utilizing ultrasound as a life-affirming tool in pregnancy medical clinics where women are introduced to their unborn babies. While providing critical information for pregnancy decisions, she has traveled to more than 100 pregnancy centers. She has taught, trained, and assessed skills of medical professionals in OB sonography across the US and in Ukraine. In 2011, she co-founded SoundView Imaging Partners, a group of OB/GYN sonographers providing hands on training, skills assessments, and continuing education webinars for pregnancy centers. She worked as a consultant with Focus on the Family’s Option Ultrasound Program, and IMPACT Association, and has presented numerous workshops on OB sonography, medical personnel and medical services at NIFLA, Care Net and Heartbeat’s national conferences.
• Stout has both lobbied and presented professional testimony to legislative committees in both Georgia and Oregon regarding the value of ultrasound for pregnant women and the work of pregnancy centers.

• Davis is an instructor for NIFLA’s Institute in Limited Ultrasound. She has over 30 years of obstetrical ultrasound experience in OB/Gyn offices, pregnancy medical clinics, and as a college program director. She started a college-based medical sonography program and facilitated the program’s accreditation through the JRCDMS. Davis’ heart is to serve in this ministry for His purposes and His glory.
• In 2011, she co-founded SoundView Imaging Partners, a group of OB/GYN sonographers providing hands on training, skills assessments, and continuing education webinars for pregnancy centers.

“Very valuable to have Dotsy here. Her teaching tips and suggestions are simply said and easy to remember. Her experience and insight were very helpful. I want all of our nurses to finish with this assessment. I was very encouraged and appreciated the time of devotion and prayer as priority with each training day…not just my practical skills were observed, but how I interact with patients.” Anonymous

Elizabeth Kirk joined the Columbus School of Law after serving as the Director and Kowalski Chair of Catholic Thought at the Institute for Faith and Culture at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas.

• From 2012 to 2016, Kirk served as a resident fellow in cultural and legal studies at the Stein Center for Social Research at Ave Maria University.
• From 2005 to 2010, she served as the Associate Director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, an interdisciplinary center inspired by the teachings of St. Pope John Paul II and dedicated to bringing the Catholic moral, intellectual and cultural tradition to bear upon the formation of students.
• Kirk previously taught law at The Columbus School of Law from 2002-03 and at Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 2003-05, and clerked for the Honorable Daniel A. Manion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 2000-02. Prior to entering academia, she practiced law, representing religious and charitable organizations and in the area of estate planning.
• Kirk holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Missouri, a law degree from the University of Notre Dame, and has done graduate studies in theology. She studied jurisprudence with Charles E. Rice and John Finnis, Aquinas on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics with Ralph McInerny, the Catholic intellectual renaissance of the 20th century with Michael Novak, and the relationship between philosophy and theology with Fr. Matthew Lamb.
• Kirk has considerable experience in matters pertaining to the family in law and policy, and is a frequent speaker, media expert, and writer on such matters. She is an associate scholar for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, serving as a legal policy expert, with a special interest in adoption law and policy. In 2010, she helped found the Vita Institute, an intensive interdisciplinary training program for leaders in the national and international pro-life movement held annually at the University of Notre Dame. Kirk serves as a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-Life committee and is a board member of The Catholic Bar Association.

• Lynne Marie Kohm serves as the John Brown McCarty Professor of Family Law at Regent University School of Law. She earned her law degree from Syracuse College of Law and is a graduate of Albany University. She was honored with the Chancellor’s Award for Faculty Excellence as the Regent University Professor of the year in 2005 for her work in defending marriage, life, training lawyers in family restoration, and discipling female law students.
• Kohm has published prolifically on legal areas of concern to families, including marriage, women, children, families, trusts, and support obligations at death. She teaches Family Law, Wills, Trusts & Estates, Elder Law, Bioethics, and Gender and the Law. She teaches law students and lawyers many of the legal concepts and techniques that assist individuals and families in planning for incapacity and estate distribution. Her most popular book is Estate Planning Success for Women, which has been nominated for several awards because of its unique perspective on women and their influence over the transfer of wealth in the next generation.
• Prior to teaching, Kohm practiced law in New York concentrating in the areas of estate planning, probate administration, real estate and family law. She is licensed to practice law in Virginia, New York, Florida, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. She is also a Certified Guardian ad Litem. Her professional affiliations include and have included the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section Board of Governors, Virginia Bar Association Domestic Relations Council, Christian Legal Society, American Bar Association, Eagle Forum, Alliance Defense Fund, Concerned Women for America, and Bethany Christian Services. Lynne Marie Kohm has a missionary heart, having served with the full-time staff of Campus Crusade for Christ for six years prior to and during law school.

• Martinez-Stone became involved with the pro-life movement when she was just 14 after attending the National March for Life. She earned a degree in political science in 2012 with the intent of dedicating her life to ending abortion. She joined Students for Life of America in 2013 as the National High School Program Coordinator and helped more than double Students for Life groups in public and private high schools all over the nation.
• Martinez-Stone then became the National Field Director, overseeing the growing team of Regional Coordinators and helped Students for Life cross the threshold into helping over 1,000 student groups. She also served on the board of directors of Choices Women’s Center in Fredericksburg, VA, heading up their Student Outreach committee and helping the pregnancy center grow their presence at the local high schools and colleges. She has traveled the country working with young people, training and equipping them to be revolutionary pro-life activists. She’s been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Christian Broadcasting Network, and many other media outlets. Martinez-Stone helped launch Reprotection in 2019, where she began as the Director of Operations and Senior Analyst. She transitioned to CEO in September of 2021

• In his 34-year career in state and federal courts, Cannon has emphasized pro-life litigation and legislation, and the continuous defense of sidewalk counselors. He has defended over 40 cases on behalf of sidewalk counselors brought at the behest of Nebraska’s late term abortionist Leroy Carhart and, with fellow Thomas More attorney Matthew Heffron, obtained the jury acquittal of Catholic priest Fr. Norman Weslin on federal FACE charges arising out of events at the Carhart clinic.
• Since joining Thomas More Society, Cannon has tried significant cases with a winning record in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Alabama and New York. He has resolved other cases in favor of sidewalk counselors without trial in those and many other states.
• Cannon was lead counsel for Thomas More Society in defeating New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s precedent setting Federal Court effort to shut down the activities of sidewalk counselors around one of the country’s biggest abortion clinics, obtaining a sound victory after a month-long federal trial and the State’s appeal of its loss to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
• The Thomas More Society is a founding member of Iowa’s Coalition of Pro-Life Leaders. As its representative to the coalition, he has actively assisted the coalition and legislators in drafting and passing pro-life legislation, and recently represented Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and the people of Iowa in defense of Iowa’s Heartbeat Law. He has recently been travelling the state, addressing influential groups in support of the upcoming amendment to the Iowa constitution.
• Cannon is on the Board of Directors of the Assure Women’s Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The center has a highly successful model, consistently reaching over 1,400 abortion-determined women per year and empowering over 75% of them to choose life. Since 2013, the organization has trained over 50 additional centers throughout the United States.

• Collett serves as director of the school’s Pro-life Center. She received her doctorate at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. As a well-known advocate for the protection of human life and the family, Collett specializes in the subjects of marriage, religion and bioethics in her research.
• Collett has published numerous legal articles and is the co-author of a law casebook on professional responsibility and co-editor of a collection of essays exploring “catholic” and “Catholic” perspectives on American law. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as before legislative committees in several states.
• In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Collett to a five-year term on the Pontifical Council for the Family. Her appointment was renewed by His Holiness Pope Francis until 2016 when the responsibilities of the Council were assumed by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. In 2013, she served as a delegate to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) for the Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations.
• She represented Congressman Ron Paul and various medical groups in the defense of the U.S. federal ban of partial-birth abortion, and the governors of Minnesota and North Dakota defending the N.H. requirement of state parental involvement prior to performance of an abortion on a minor before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Collett is often asked to represent the interests of government officials before federal appellate courts. She has served as special attorney general for the states of Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as assisting other state attorneys general in defending laws protecting human life and marriage. Prior to joining St. Thomas in 2003, Collett taught at the South Texas College of Law, where she established the nation’s first annual symposium on legal ethics

Karen D. Poehailos, MD is a family physician in Charlottesville, VA and serves as Assistant Medical Director for NIFLA as well as a member of the Board of Directors.

• Her involvement in pro-life work dates to 1997, when she became a physician volunteer for the Charlottesville Pregnancy Center and moved on to serve as its volunteer medical director. From 2018-2021, she was the Regional Medical Director for ThriVe Central VA Women’s HealthCare and supervised medical services including pregnancy tests, performing and reading limited OB ultrasounds, and STI/STD testing and treatment at its four locations in Central Virginia. Dr. Poehailos has been a member of the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline since 2015 and has been honored to help many women continue their pregnancies through this work. She serves on the Medical Advisory Team for the Abortion Pill Rescue Network.
• Dr. Poehailos is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and its Family Medicine Residency. She has worked in primary care and urgent care settings, with additional Restorative Reproductive Medicine training. She is a Certified Fertility Care Medical Consultant and a FEMM Medical Provider working with women on recurrent miscarriage, infertility, and irregular cycles without IVF or hormonal contraception.
• Local secular media and national Catholic media outlets have interviewed Dr. Poehailos on abortion pill reversal and other pro-life issues and Natural Family Planning. She has greatly enjoyed becoming part of the team for NIFLA’s monthly webinars.
• She will always be grateful to NIFLA for providing her first limited obstetrical ultrasound training and for all the services they provide to the pregnancy medical clinic movement

• Christiansen is an advocate for the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death, and for medical professional’s right to practice according to principles of conscience.
• She completed her internship and residency training in obstetrics & gynecology in 1990 at the Hospital of the Medical College of Pennsylvania and subsequently obtained her board certification becoming a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists.
• Christiansen currently serves as the National Medical Consultant to Care Net, and is the medical director and staff physician of a medical pregnancy center in Frederick, MD. She is a member of the Christian Medical Association (CMDA), and the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians & Gynecologists. She serves as the Maryland State Representative to the CMDA and is the co-director of the Maryland Chapter of the American Academy of Medical Ethics.
• Christiansen is an author and speaker on the topics of abortion, Hippocratic medicine, and unplanned pregnancy, addressing a variety of forums including the United Nations, the President’s Council on Bioethics, and legislative bodies as well as providing commentary to numerous national media outlets.

Bryan Hughes is serving his second term in the Texas Senate, representing 16 counties in beautiful East Texas.

• Born and raised in East Texas, Bryan attended Tyler Junior College and the University of Texas at Tyler, becoming the first in his family to receive a Bachelor’s degree. He went on to earn his law degree from Baylor University and obtained a prestigious clerkship with U.S. District Judge William Steger. Following his service to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas,
  Bryan entered private law practice which he still maintains, helping families and businesses solve problems and deal with difficult challenges.
• He has been honored as Baylor Young Lawyer of the Year and Outstanding Alumnus of both Tyler Junior College and the University of Texas at Tyler. For his service in the Legislature, Senator Hughes has received the Taxpayer Champion Award, Defender of the American Dream award, and the Horizon Award from Texas Right to Life. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has honored him
  as their Legislator of the Year, and the American Conservative Union consistently has given him their highest rating.
• Senator Hughes serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on State Affairs and as a member of the Finance, Education, Jurisprudence, Natural Resource & Economic Development, Nominations, and Redistricting Committees.

• Parker was lead counsel for Norma McCorvey, formerly “Roe” of Roe v. Wade, from 2000 to 2012, and Sandra Cano, the “Doe” of Doe v. Bolton, until 2014 in their efforts to overturn the two landmark cases that brought legalized abortion on demand to America.
• A ministry of The Justice Foundation, Operation Outcry, seeks to end the pain of abortion by mobilizing women hurt by abortion to become witnesses who share their true stories of the devastating effects of abortion through courts and legislatures. Operation Outcry holds the largest collection of legally admissible, written testimonies from women hurt by abortion.
• Parker is a former Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Texas, and studied International Human Rights at the International Human Rights Institute in Strasbourg, France. He taught International Human Rights at the St. Mary’s Institute on World Legal Problems in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1992.
• Parker received his JD degree with high honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1979. He was an Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review, a Chancellor, Order of the Coif, and Order of Barristers for his outstanding advocacy skills. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oklahoma with a BA in Economics in 1974.

• Hawley serves as senior counsel to the appellate team at Alliance Defending Freedom. Before joining ADF, Hawley practiced appellate law at Kirkland and Ellis LLP, Bancroft LLP, and King & Spalding LLP, all in Washington, D.C. Hawley has litigated extensively before the U.S. Supreme Court as well as numerous federal courts of appeals and state courts of last resort. She also worked at the Department of Justice, serving as counsel to Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
• As an academic, Hawley served as an associate professor of law at the University of Missouri where she taught constitutional litigation, federal income tax, tax policy, and agricultural law. She also taught constitutional law as a senior fellow at the Kinder Institute for Constitutional Democracy. Her scholarship focuses primarily on federal courts and has been published in numerous top journals.
• Hawley is a frequent commentator on legal issues. Her work has been quoted or featured in the Washington Post, US News, USA Today, Fox News, the Washington Examiner, the Legal Times, and the Hill, among others. Hawley has also written a book on motherhood, entitled “Living Beloved: Lessons From My Little Ones About the Heart of God.”
• Hawley is a former law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Hawley received her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University and her law degree from Yale Law School where she served as a Coker Fellow in Constitutional Law and on the Yale Law Journal. Hawley is an active member of the Missouri and District of Columbia bars and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and various federal courts of appeals.

• Katie Pope is the nurse manager at Advice and Aid Pregnancy Centers in Overland Park, KS, where she has worked for 3 1/2 years.
• Katie earned a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education in Biology, Chemistry and General Science from Kansas State University before pursuing a nursing degree from the University of Kansas.
• Katie enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom while moving around the country with her family. A life-long respect for the dignity of the human person led her to seek out ways to use her education and experience to protect the unborn when it was time to re-enter the workforce.

Abortion Views – I believe everyone was created in the image and likeness of God and that every soul, from the moment of conception to natural death, was created for a specific, unique, and unrepeatable purpose. Human beings were created to be in community; to depend on one another. The duty we owe others corresponds to the degree they depend on us. A baby in the womb is dependent on the mother alone. Only she can provide the necessary environment for the thriving of that child. Therefore, a mother has a unique duty toward her child until, at minimum, the child is born and it’s possible for others to take over. Abortion violates that duty and injures the mother, the father, and the child by denying each the dignity owed to them as human persons.

• Shantae Rodriguez, has practiced clinically, as a Physician Assistant, Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner and Chaplain, over the past 15 years, in fields of Emergency Medicine, Women’s Health and Family Medicine.
• She has worked alongside multiple anti-trafficking organization nationally and internationally as she served victims and survivors of trauma, sexual assault and human trafficking for past 12 years.
• Shantae is presently the Director of Women’s Health for New Life Community Health Center and Director of Medical Services for Soundview Pregnancy Services.

Hon. Little was appointed as an Assistant Chief Immigration Judge in April 2021.

• Little earned a Business Certificate in 1988 from Sophia University Tokyo Japan, a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 from Seton Hall University, and a Juris Doctor in 1992 from Seton Hall University School of Law.
• From March 2019 to April 2021, she served as an Immigration Judge at the San Francisco Immigration Court.
• From 1994 to 2018, she was a solo practitioner in Highlands, New Jersey. From 2008 to 2010, she served as Mayor of Highlands.
• From 2006 to 2007, she served as Freeholder, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Hon. Little is a member of the New Jersey State Bar and the Pennsylvania Bar.

Danielle M. White has served as legal counsel for Heartbeat International since 2015.

• She earned her J.D. from Ave Maria School of Law, where she ranked in the top-10 percent of her class and served as a senior editor for the Ave Maria Law Review.
• After her first year of law school, Danielle was awarded the prestigious Blackstone Fellowship and sent to London to study the bioethical issues surrounding a recently-developed human cloning procedure.
• A member of the Christian Legal Society, she has used her legal training to defend the traditional family, religious liberty and the right to life as an Allied Attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom and as a summer associate with The Thomas More Society in Chicago.
• Danielle is admitted to the Bar of the State of Ohio, as well at the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, and the United States Supreme Court. She co-authored an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in NIFLA v. Becerra.

Kari Farley was born and raised in Texas. She was a stay-at-home mom and homeschool teacher for many years.

• In 2019, Kari joined Advice and Aid as a volunteer client advocate and started a life group at her church for finding freedom after an abortion.
• She joined Advice and Aid staff in 2021 as the client’s relations coordinator for the parenting education program called Connections.
• Kari is also the Awakenings Program coordinator who helps hurting women find hope and healing after an abortion.
• Kari is passionate about finding new ways to share the gospel, lead people to Christ, and discipleship. She is an introverted extrovert who loves spending time with her family and friends and prizes her time alone with Jesus. She recently published her first book, “Wholly His – Surrendering the Heartbreak of Abortion.”