Mary Rice Hasson

Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow

Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., 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, an initiative that educates and 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 three-time keynote speaker for the Holy See at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, on topics related to women, education, and gender ideology. She serves as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, Life and Youth. Recently, Mary was honored to receive the Christifideles Laici award at the 2023 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

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Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., 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, an initiative that educates and 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 three-time keynote speaker for the Holy See at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, on topics related to women, education, and gender ideology. She serves as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, Life and Youth. Recently, Mary was honored to receive the Christifideles Laici award at the 2023 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

She speaks frequently at national conferences, universities, and in dioceses across the country, and has testified before the U.S. Senate, in state legislatures, and the Australian parliament on parents’ rights and transgender issues.

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

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


A note about the Person and Identity Project (PIP): The Person and Identity Project aims to equip parents and faith-based institutions with the facts, resources, and expertise to promote an authentic vision of the human person and to counter gender ideology.  PIP experts speak, write, and conduct workshops on gender ideology for churches, schools, parents, and faith-based organizations. See personandidentity.com


A note about the Catholic Women’s Forum: The Catholic Women’s Forum takes its inspiration from Pope St. John Paul II, who wrote that women have “the task of assuring the moral dimension of culture…a culture worthy of the person,” (Christifideles Laici, 51). The Catholic Women’s Forum provides a network for Catholic women scholars seeking fellowship and to influence the culture, and offers a forum for Catholic women to share faith, inspiration, and resources. See catholicwomensforum.org.


Recent publications:

Appellate brief in the 9th Circuit supporting challenge to Washington law effectively mandating “affirmation only” therapy for minors, December 16, 2021.

Bringing the Christ of Christmas to a Lost Generation,” Legatus Magazine, Dec 1, 2021

 “Erasing Females in Language and Law,” Journal of Christian Legal Thought, Christian Legal Society, Oct. 21, 2021.

Is It Emotional Abuse For Parents To Deny A Child’s Transgender Claims?” National Review Online, October 17, 2021.

Time for an Exodus from Public Schools?” Our Catholic Mission, Cardinal Newman Society, October 8, 2021.

The Equality Act and the End of Females,” Newsweek, February 24, 2021.

The Pope is Catholic After All,” co-author with Tim Busch, The Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2020.


Books and Book Chapters:

Chapter author, “Sexual Identity, Gender Ideology, and Religious Freedom: The Tug of War over ‘Who We Are,’ – Schools as Battlegrounds,” in the Handbook of Church and State, Shannon Holzer, ed. (New York, NY: Palgrave, expected publication fall 2022)

Co-author, with Theresa Farnan, PhD, of Get Out Now: Why You Should Pull Your Child From Public School Before It’s Too Late (Regnery: 2018)

Chapter author, “What About Sex: Habits of Heart for a Fulfilling Sexual Relationship and a Happy Marriage,” in Venus and Virtue: Celebrating Sex and Seeking Sanctification (2018).

Editor, Promise and Challenge: Catholic Women Reflect on Feminism, Complementarity, and the Church (Our Sunday Visitor: 2015)

Co-author, with Michele Hill, of the reportWhat Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception (EPPC 2012)

Co-author, with Kimberly Hahn of Catholic Education: Homeward Bound (Ignatius Press: 1996).


Selected Presentations and Interviews:

[See also the videos collected on the Person and Identity Project website]

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EPPC Scholars Submit Comment Opposing HHS Proposed Rule Requiring “Affirmation” of a Foster Child’s “LGBTQI+…

Rachel N. Morrison

These premises are not only false but are harmful to children in foster care and will undermine religious freedom and parental rights far beyond the foster care context.

PDF / November 29, 2023

There Is Nothing Worth Saving in America’s Public Schools

Mary Rice Hasson

The heart of their mission is to indoctrinate children into being atheistic gender ideologues.

Articles

The American Spectator / June 23, 2023

EPPC Scholars Submit Comments Opposing ED’s Proposed Gender Identity Mandate in Athletics

EPPC

On May 15, 2023, EPPC scholars Rachel N. Morrison, Mary Rice Hasson, and Eric Kniffin submitted a public comment opposing…

PDF / May 15, 2023

EPPC Scholars Submit Comment Opposing HHS’s Proposed Rule on Conscience Rights in Health Care

EPPC

On March 6, 2023, EPPC scholars Rachel N. Morrison, Eric Kniffin, Mary Rice Hasson, and Natalie Dodson submitted a public…

PDF / March 7, 2023

EPPC Scholars Submit Comment Opposing Proposed Title IX Rule

Rachel N. Morrison

On September 12, EPPC Fellow Rachel N. Morrison and Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow Mary Rice Hasson submitted a public comment opposing a proposed rule…

PDF / September 13, 2022

How to Strengthen Your Family in a Post-Christian Culture

Mary Rice Hasson

Parents need to be countercultural and do what they can to surround themselves with other families, teachers, and mentors who are countercultural as well.

National Catholic Register / July 14, 2022

EPPC Files Brief in Support of Alabama Law Protecting Children from Harmful Transitioning Treatments

Rachel N. Morrison

The brief explains that there is no medical consensus regarding an authoritative standard of care for gender dysphoria or transitioning treatments and that such treatments can lead to serious harms, especially for children.

 

EPPC Files Brief in Suit Challenging HHS Transgender Mandate

Rachel N. Morrison

EPPC has filed a friend-of-court brief in support of a lawsuit challenging a mandate by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requiring healthcare providers under the guise of nondiscrimination to perform and provide insurance coverage for “gender-transition procedures.”

PDF / June 22, 2022

Nancy Pelosi Faces a Choice

Mary Rice Hasson

The speaker of the house now faces perhaps the most important choice of her career: party platform or life and fundamental human dignity.

Articles

First Things / May 31, 2022

EPPC Scholars Meet with Federal Officials to Discuss Concerns over Proposed Transgender Treatment Mandate for Veterans

Mary Rice Hasson

EPPC Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow Mary Rice Hasson and Fellow Rachel N. Morrison met with federal government officials to discuss concerns over a proposal by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) to remove the current exclusion for “gender alterations” from its medical benefits package. The scholars objected to the VA’s characterization that such care is “medically necessary” and that it is “consistent with medical industry standards.”

Articles

 

EPPC Scholars Meet with Federal Officials to Discuss Concerns Over Upcoming Title IX Rule

Rachel N. Morrison

EPPC fellows Rachel N. Morrison and Mary Hasson met with federal government officials to discuss concerns over an upcoming proposed rule by the Department of Education that would impact Title IX regulations. EPPC scholars shared eight major points of concern, including the harms of redefining “sex discrimination” to include “gender identity.”

Articles

 

EPPC Scholars Submit Public Comment Opposing HHS’s Proposed Insurance Mandate for Transgender Puberty-Blocking Drugs, Cross-Sex…

Ryan T. Anderson

On January 27, 2022, EPPC scholars Ryan T. Anderson, Roger Severino, Rachel N. Morrison, and Mary Rice Hasson submitted a public…

Articles