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Giving Thanks for the Freedoms You’ve Helped Defend

With God’s help and your generosity, 2025 has been another year of victory for ADF. We will continue to defend every person’s God-given right to live and speak the truth.

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A lot can happen over the course of a year in someone’s life. Weddings, births, promotions—I don’t know about you, but it can sometimes just blur together. It’s easy to forget all that’s transpired.

The same thing can sometimes happen in our work at Alliance Defending Freedom. With hundreds of cases moving at once, from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court, it’s tempting to focus only on the next challenge instead of celebrating the victories that God has already made possible.

We are grateful for all God has done through ADF this year, and Thanksgiving is a timely reminder of that. From the beginning, our ministry verse has been John 15:5—”Apart from me you can do nothing.” Without God’s providence and provision, none of the victories ADF has achieved would have been possible.

While we give God all the glory, we understand that these victories were also made possible by your generosity. God has used your sacrificial gifts to spur ADF’s work to defend every person’s God-given right to live and speak the truth.

Take a moment to join us in giving thanks for what God has done at ADF so far this year.

U.S. Supreme Court

In 2025, ADF will represent clients before the U.S. Supreme Court four times—our most appearances in a single calendar year! That’s remarkable when you consider the High Court receives roughly 7,000–8,000 petitions each term and agrees to hear only about 1% of them.

  • April 2: Thanks to your partnership, ADF defended the state of South Carolina and its ability to direct Medicaid funding to facilities that provide comprehensive health care for women rather than entities like Planned Parenthood that exist primarily to perform abortions. Thanks be to God, on June 26, the Supreme Court ruled that pro-life states like South Carolina can now direct Medicaid funds away from abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood.
  • April 30: ADF represented the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board on its decision to approve St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the Board to exclude St. Isidore from the state’s charter school program solely because St. Isidore is religious.
  • October 7: The Supreme Court heard the case of Colorado counselor and ADF client Kaley Chiles. Kaley is challenging her state’s counseling censorship law that forbids her from helping kids change to find peace in their own bodies, even when that’s exactly what they want. If she does, she faces crushing fines and the potential loss of her license. We are currently awaiting a decision on this important free speech case.
  • December 2: ADF will stand with First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a network of pro-life pregnancy centers in New Jersey that gives women the information and resources they need to make life-affirming decisions for themselves and their unborn children. But New Jersey’s attorney general has launched a predatory investigation into First Choice—despite not producing a single complaint against it. His office issued a sweeping subpoena demanding years of sensitive information—including the names and contact information of First Choice’s donors.

And just on the horizon, on January 13, 2026, ADF will be co-counsel alongside the states of West Virginia and Idaho defending their laws that protect women’s sports.

During this past Supreme Court term, there were other monumental victories for parental rights, religious freedom, and common sense.

  • In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious parents have the right to notice and opt their children out of classroom activities that violate their religious beliefs about gender and sexuality. ADF filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the Maryland parents in the case. And, through your partnership, we aim to leverage this decision to protect all parents’ rights to direct their children’s upbringing and education — not just religious ones.
  • In a landmark victory for children’s health and science-based medicine in United States v. Skrmetti, the Court upheld Tennessee’s law protecting minors from harmful and life-altering “gender transition” drugs and surgeries. ADF supported Tennessee and its Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti throughout the case, and the ruling supports 26 similar state laws — many of which ADF helped craft — returning common sense to America’s medical system.

But we aren’t just thankful for what we’ve seen God do at the U.S. Supreme Court. We’ve seen God move across the U.S. and the world.

United States

Sanctity of Life

Religious Freedom

Free Speech

Parental Rights

Combatting Gender Ideology

International

Corporate Engagement

This past June, we launched the fourth edition of our Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index—the premier benchmark for measuring corporate respect for free speech and religious liberty. Leveraging our Index findings, legal expertise, and related shareholder proxy work this year, we have secured numerous policies and behavioral changes at the largest companies in the country on debanking, deplatforming, DEI, and religious liberty in the workforce. Here’s a snapshot of accomplishments from this year:

  • In a major victory for free speech and religious freedom in the marketplace, the nation’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, adopted language that will protect against future instances of political and religious debanking in its Code of Conduct, after sustained engagement with ADF attorneys.
  • Four other major financial institutions, including Charles Schwab and Citigroup, issued statements promising to serve all customers regardless of religious or political views.
  • In March, Idaho became the second state (in addition to Tennessee) to adopt an ADF model bill protecting citizens, groups from being punished for political or religious views, speech, or affiliations by banks with $100 billion in assets.
  • Five members of the now-defunct censorship cartel known as the “Global Alliance for Responsible Media,” committed to viewpoint-neutral ad-buying, including Mastercard, IBM, and PepsiCo.
  • After advocacy from ADF, shareholders, and dozens of financial officers, Walmart, Costco, and Kroger confirmed they would not become abortion dispensaries for the pill mifepristone, which aborts babies and puts women’s health at risk.

The White House

This year, President Trump has signed numerous executive orders that will help advance Americans’ fundamental freedoms and positively influence Alliance Defending Freedom’s work. This includes executive orders protecting women’s sports, ending discriminatory debanking, and helping ensure that religious foster parents aren’t discriminated against by state governments simply for holding to their religious convictions.

President Trump also signed an executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission through the Department of Justice. ADF President, CEO, and Chief Counsel Kristen Waggoner was honored to be appointed to the Advisory Board of Legal Experts, while ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker serves on the Advisory Board of Lay Leaders. Numerous other ADF attorneys and clients have offered testimony on the challenges that religious freedom is facing across the country.

Give Thanks!

Believe it or not, this is actually not a complete list of things that we could celebrate this year at ADF. It’s nearly impossible to fit into one article.

Thank you again for all the ways in which you support this ministry. God is so good, and no matter what life brings, we always have a reason to rejoice in the Lord. That’s what Thanksgiving is all about.