A Winning Year for Freedom in the States

Key Takeaways:

In 2026, ADF’s Government Affairs team worked on over two dozen model bills that became state law, advancing protections for women’s sports, parental rights, student free speech, and religious liberty.
ADF attorneys testified over 60 times before state legislatures and congressional committees, and over 60 ADF model bills cleared at least one chamber—part of more than 160 policy proposals the team helped draft this year.
That groundwork continues to shape national law: Legislation ADF helped draft reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2026 upheld West Virginia’s and Idaho’s laws protecting women’s sports.
Looking to 2027, ADF will prioritize protections against censorship, ending viewpoint-based debanking, science-based standards keeping men out of women’s private spaces, and parents’ authority over their children’s education and upbringing.

Under our constitutional order and the principles of federalism, the states act as 50 laboratories of innovation. This gives Americans the freedom to vote with their feet by living in states that reflect the priorities around which their pursuit of happiness seems most reliably cultivated. The states also provide an effective case study for varying policy initiatives upon which our federal government can rely for evidence-based decision-making for the nation.

For years, ADF’s Government Affairs team has played a vital role in policymaking at the state and federal levels to advance the God-given right to live and speak the truth on issues essential to human flourishing. Since 2020, ADF has worked with lawmakers and policy allies to enact nearly two hundred laws. Many of ADF’s legislative wins have set the groundwork for nationwide impact, including at the U.S. Supreme Court, which recently upheld West Virginia’s and Idaho’s laws to protect women’s sports, laws that ADF helped draft.

This year is no exception.

What ADF’s Government Affairs team accomplished in 2026

Along with drafting legislation and providing legal guidance on laws that curb radical gender ideology, end institutional censorship, and help secure parental rights, ADF attorneys testified more than 60 times before state legislatures and congressional committees. Over 60 ADF model bills passed through at least one chamber. Additionally, the ADF Government Affairs team partnered with state legislators to draft more than 160 policy proposals, including dozens that became law.

Of the bills ADF helped craft that became state law in 2026, some of the highlights include the following:

The federal Government Affairs team has worked diligently with Congress on the reintroduction of a parental rights bill, the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act, enshrining the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and healthcare of their children as a fundamental right. Congress also reintroduced the Safeguarding Charity Act, an ADF priority bill, codifying the clear and congressionally intended distinctions between what it means to be a nonprofit organization and to receive federal financial assistance. The team continues to collaborate with Congress to protect free speech against foreign and domestic censorship, preserve the integrity of female athletes, defund the abortion industry, and promote religious liberty.

ADF attorneys also testified multiple times before Congress on issues such as students’ freedom of speech on college campuses, how the SPLC has profited from smearing those who hold certain religious and political views, and European extraterritorial threats to the free speech of Americans.

What’s next for 2027

Looking ahead to the 2027 legislative session, ADF’s Government Affairs team will prioritize several aims:

Combatting efforts to police and punish the thoughts and opinions of Americans through anti-debanking legislation and protections for online speech.
Ensuring states have a clear, science-based standard that men cannot access women’s intimate spaces, thus protecting women’s and girls’ privacy, safety, and dignity.
Keeping parents in the driver’s seat by empowering them to make the best decisions for their children’s education and upbringing.

H.L. Mencken once said, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” Thankfully, our Founders were keenly aware of the fallen nature of man, the seductive trappings of power, and thus the perils of pure democracy for the God-given rights of the individual. They had the foresight to give us, as Benjamin Franklin reportedly quipped, “a republic, if you can keep it.” ADF’s Government Affairs team is committed to working with our allies and lawmakers to advance policy that improves our chances of “keeping it.”