ADF to Biden admin: Don't replace bad rule with worse one
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake regarding a formal comment ADF attorneys submitted Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urging it to withdraw a proposed grants rule that would discriminate against recipients of taxpayer funds based on their policies protecting the safety of women and girls in sports teams, private facilities, education, healthcare, and housing:
“Americans should be free to live out their ethical and religious beliefs without fear of government retribution. While HHS is right to rescind its Obama-era grants rule that coerces foster care providers to violate their beliefs about marriage and sexuality, the Biden administration is attempting to replace a bad rule with a worse one. The new rule would violate Americans’ religious liberty, free speech, and parental rights by redefining ‘sex’ in Title IX and other federal laws in a way that harms women and children in health care and education programs. Beneficiaries of federal programs need the help of faith-based agencies now more than ever, and HHS has no authority to place political agendas over the safety of women and girls.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Julie Marie Blake
Julie Marie Blake serves as senior counsel for regulatory litigation at Alliance Defending Freedom. Over the last decade, she has been on the front lines of high-profile, precedent-setting cases challenging federal overreach in courts across the country. Blake served as deputy solicitor general for the state of Missouri from 2017 to 2020 and as assistant solicitor general for the state of West Virginia from 2013 to 2017. In these roles, she argued 26 federal and state appeals, including before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. Before entering government service in 2013, Blake was a litigation associate at Baker Botts L.L.P., where she served as volunteer amicus counsel in several ADF cases, including Town of Greece v. Galloway. Following law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Paul J. Kelly, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 2009. She received her B.A. in Politics and Theology & Religious Studies phi beta kappa from the Catholic University of America in 2006. She is a 2007 Blackstone Fellow. Blake is admitted to practice in multiple states, the Supreme Court, and in many federal district and appellate courts.