CGJ Intern Update from Corrie Lee in Fredericksburg, VA

The following post is written by CGJ Summer Intern Corrie Lee.  Corrie is working with the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates for 8 weeks in Fredericksburg, VA, assisting their attorneys in legal research and writing and serving member pregnancy centers across the country.  

Learn more about Corrie Lee and make a donation to her page here >> 

This summer I am interning at the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA). As of this week, I am officially halfway done with my internship, and I cannot believe how quickly this summer has gone.

Corrie Lee with Anne O'Connor, VP of Legal Counsel for NIFLA, and Tom Glessner, President of NIFLA. 

During my first few weeks with NIFLA, I attended the annual summit at The Founders Inn where the President of NIFLA, Mr. Tom Glessner, was honored for his dedication to pro-life ideals by California’s State Assembly, Vice President Mike Pence, and President Donald Trump. After those few days, I felt energized to get to work more deeply on my projects.

The first three and a half weeks of my internship were dedicated to updating the law in an informational packet that is distributed to pregnancy resource centers focused on historical attacks that centers have come under. NIFLA supports centers across the nation that seek to aid women in tough situations as they contemplate abortion, adoption, or keeping their children. During the last week or so, I have been finalizing details in the informational packet and have started to compile the last two decades of legal tips into topical help guides for the centers. These projects have widened my scope of understanding regarding the legal issues that pregnancy resource centers face and also helped expose me to generally applicable laws in contexts I have yet to study in law school.

Recently the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision was handed down from the Supreme Court, which sent our office buzzing. With the upcoming decision in NIFLA v. Becerra, a case regarding what kind of speech the government can compel, we were all encouraged to see the Court take a stand against injustice. In the coming days, I will make a trip to the Supreme Court to hopefully hear our decision read out loud. We are praying that the Lord would work and that the Court would protect the right of free speech.

This post was written by a Center for Global Justice intern.  The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.