The Law, Rights, and Religion Project (LRRP) is delighted to welcome Dr. Christine A. Ryan as our new Associate Director for Religion and Reproductive Rights. Christine will be spearheading LRRP’s work to provide rigorous academic analysis and thought leadership on the intersection of religious liberty rights and reproductive healthcare. With an extensive background in both religious freedom and gender justice law, Christine could not be better suited to take on this innovative and critical role.
Christine joins LRRP from the Global Justice Center, where she led the Center’s legal and advocacy work on reproductive rights. Prior to that, she served as Senior Legal and Gender Advisor to United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed. Christine holds an S.J.D. from Duke University School of Law, an LLM from University College London, and a Bachelor of Laws from University College Cork in Ireland.
According to Dr. Ryan, “The demise of Roe v. Wade changed the legal landscape for abortion rights advocacy and access. In the wake of this devastating outcome, LRRP has been developing creative and novel approaches at the intersection of religious liberty and abortion rights. I cannot wait to expand our research, strategic thinking, and organizing on this issue. At the same time, I see this work as a critical challenge to the theocratic politics and religious preferentialism that are ravaging this country at an alarming speed.”
LRRP Director Liz Reiner Platt “could not be more thrilled that Dr. Ryan will be bringing her international and domestic expertise, nuanced strategic thinking, and creative legal advocacy to the Law, Rights, and Religion Project. One year after the Dobbs decision, there is an urgent need for new legal strategies to protect the right to make healthcare decisions based on one’s own religious and moral values. I am confident that Dr. Ryan is exactly the leader that LRRP needs at this precarious time.”
“Christine joins our team at the Law, Rights, and Religion Project at such a critical time in the movement for reproductive justice,” said Professor Katherine Franke, Faculty Director of the Law, Rights, and Religion Project. “Bringing her on board will allow us to further expand and deepen our work as the preeminent thought leaders developing new strategies to simultaneously advance reproductive justice and religious/moral pluralism in the United States,” Franke continued.
