Theresa Farnan
Fellow
Theresa Farnan, Ph.D., is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where she co-founded and works on EPPC’s Person and Identity Project. A philosopher who specializes in Christian anthropology, she focuses her work on countering the destructive effects of gender ideology on young people, families, and faith communities. She also writes and speaks in defense of the family, persons with disabilities, and the unborn, and is a staunch advocate of Catholic education.
Theresa Farnan, Ph.D., is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where she co-founded and works on EPPC’s Person and Identity Project. A philosopher who specializes in Christian anthropology, she focuses her work on countering the destructive effects of gender ideology on young people, families, and faith communities. She also writes and speaks in defense of the family, persons with disabilities, and the unborn, and is a staunch advocate of Catholic education.
Dr. Farnan is the co-author of two books, Get Out Now: Why You Should Pull Your Child from Public School Before It’s Too Late and Where Did I Come From? Where Am I Going? How Do I Get There? She is editor and contributing author of Gender Ideology and Pastoral Practice: A Handbook for Catholic Clergy, Counselors, and Ministerial Leaders. In addition to numerous articles in scholarly journals and collections, her writing has appeared in First Things, Catholic World Report, Our Sunday Visitor, Humanum Review and other publications.
Dr. Farnan currently serves as chair of the Ethics and Public Policy Committee for the National Catholic Partnership on Disabilities. In that capacity, she collaborates with other Catholic scholars to protect persons with disabilities from harmful policies, including policies that promote abortion, euthanasia, and eugenics.
Previously, Dr. Farnan taught philosophy courses at the college level, teaching at St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh, Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and in diaconate formation programs for the Dioceses of Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. She was a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth.
She received her master’s degree and her doctorate in Medieval Studies from the University of Notre Dame, concentrating on medieval philosophy. She and her husband, Michael, have ten children, which is the inspiration for her X account @materx10.
EPPC Scholars Support Citizen Petition Seeking FDA Action to Protect Males from Off-Label Estrogen Use…
Mary Rice Hasson, Rachel N. Morrison, Theresa Farnan
On June 17, 2026, EPPC Scholars Mary Rice Hasson and Theresa Farnan of the Person and Identity Project and Rachel…
Public Comments
PDF / June 23, 2026
EPPC Scholars Encourage FCC to Ensure TV Monitoring Board and TV Ratings System Serve Families,…
Chloe Lawrence, Eric Kniffin, Mary Rice Hasson, Rachel N. Morrison, Theresa Farnan
On May 22, 2026, EPPC Scholars across three EPPC programs—the Administrative State Accountability Project, the Person and Identity Project, and…
Public Comments
PDF / May 28, 2026
The Scandalous Synod Report: A Betrayal of Trust
Mary Rice Hasson, Theresa Farnan
The scope of this new synodal “paradigm” is breathtaking; under its erroneous approach, any sexual sin (and most other sins) can be reframed as “good.”
Articles
The Catholic World Report / May 17, 2026
Children of the State: Youth Sexual Rights and the Illusion of Parental Rights
Theresa Farnan
The pediatric medical office was bright, if sterile and antiseptic looking. A fish tank stood in the center of the…
Articles
Humanum / October 24, 2025
Prenatal Screening: “Weeding Out” Down Syndrome
Theresa Farnan
It was near the end of my prenatal exam. I was an older mom, expecting our tenth child, and was…
Articles
California Association of Natural Family Planning / July 24, 2025
Skrmetti Is a Partial Victory for Common Sense
Mary Rice Hasson, Theresa Farnan
In a much-anticipated decision, United States v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court handed a win to states seeking to protect children from sex-rejecting…
Articles
First Things / June 19, 2025
EPPC & Scholars File Supreme Court Amicus Briefs in Opposition to Colorado Law Mandating “Gender…
Eric Kniffin, Mary Rice Hasson, Theresa Farnan
On Friday, June 13, 2025, scholars Mary Rice Hasson, Theresa Farnan, Eric Kniffin, and Susan Selner-Wright, PhD, filed a Supreme…
Amicus Brief
PDF / June 16, 2025
Letters from Rome 2025, No. 6—The Papal Interregnum
George Weigel, Mary Rice Hasson, Theresa Farnan
The Anthropological Revolution and Its Challenge by Theresa Farnan and Mary Hasson Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Veritatis Splendor begins with a prophetic…
Articles
First Things / May 3, 2025
Trump Ends Government Promotion of Gender Ideology and Child Mutilation
Eric Kniffin, Mary Rice Hasson, Theresa Farnan
Trump’s ban on gender transitioning has turned the tide on an indefensible cult,” writes Telegraph columnist Suzanne Moore. “The pretense that sex can…
Articles
First Things / January 31, 2025
PIP on “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal…
Mary Rice Hasson, Theresa Farnan
PIP welcomes the Trump Administration’s “Day One” Executive Order “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal…
Articles
The Person and Identity Project / January 21, 2025