The opening weeks of the Trump presidency have featured a flurry of Executive Orders aimed not only to reverse the policies and priorities of the Biden Administration but also to advance the Trump administration’s vision of the good. Indeed, on the day of President Trump’s inauguration he placed himself in the middle of the Capital One Arena indowntown DC before a giant rally of his supporters to begin signing these Executive Orders (or EOs). This relatively unprecedented practice of drawing attention to the signing of EOs speaks to how significant they are at altering the political and legal terrain. Some of the most impactful of these EOs concern matters touching on human sexuality and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. We’ll discuss those EOs with attorney Mary Rice Hasson. 

She is the Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where she co-founded and directs the Person and Identity Project, aninitiative that equips parents and faith-based institutions to promote the truth about the human person and counter gender ideology. An attorney and policy expert, Mary has been a keynote speaker for the Holy See during theUnited Nations Commission on the Status of Women, addressing education, women and work, caregiving, and gender ideology, and serves as a consultant to theU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, Life and Youth.

The co-author of several books on education, Mary’s writinghas appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, National Review, First Things, the National Catholic Register and OurSunday Visitor, among others.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Notre DameLaw School, Mary is married to Seamus Hasson, and they are parents of seven grown children and grandparents of seven.

Much of our discussion springs from this article she co-authored inFirst Things.