Anna Franzonello

Staff Counsel

Anna Franzonello joined Americans United for Life in September 2009. Her areas of expertise include protecting the freedom of conscience, the case for investigating Planned Parenthood, so-called “emergency contraception,” and the life-affirming work of Pregnancy Care Centers.

Among her many responsibilities at AUL, Anna consults with state and federal legislators and has provided testimony in favor of life-affirming legislation.

Anna is a contributing author to AUL’s publication Defending Life. She is also a co-author of AUL’s Constitutional Law and Abortion primer for law school students and contributed to AUL’s July 2011 Report, The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood, that helped lead to the current Congressional investigation. Along with AUL’s William Saunders, Anna co-authored an academic article “Health Care Reform and Respect for Human Life: How the Process Failed” which was published in the 2011 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy.

On behalf of Americans of Life, Anna has authored multiple comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), addressing the inappropriate over-reach of the HHS mandate and the insufficiency of the conscience “accommodations” suggested by HHS. Anna also attended the Institute of Medicine meetings regarding “preventive services” and testified before the panel during the public comments period.

While at AUL, Anna has been published and interviewed by a variety of news sources including National Review Online, Politico, Washington Times, CBS News, and NPR. She has also been an invited speaker at events across the country including the Diocese of Rochester’s Fortnight for Freedom, and Franciscan University’s Life, Liberty, and Leadership Symposium.

Anna formerly served as a Legal Fellow for Americans United for Life in 2008; she was a Blackstone Fellow with the Alliance Defense Fund and with Family Research Council.

Anna earned her BA in History from Franciscan University in 2003 and her law degree from Notre Dame Law School in 2009. In law school, Anna served as President of the Federalist Society and was an active member of the St. Thomas More Society and the pro-life law student association Jus Vitae.

Anna worked for Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture helping develop their pro-life initiative, the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life.

To schedule an interview, please contact AUL Communications at press@aul.org.

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