Ethics and Public Policy Center
The Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) is a conservative think tank in Washington, founded in 1976 by Ernest Lefever. The institute seeks to apply the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to issues of public policy. Its president is Ryan T. Anderson, author of a critical book on transgender healthcare.
What you can find
The website features essays, opinion pieces, policy briefs, legal submissions in court cases and responses to proposed regulations. The Person and Identity Project focuses on parents, schools and churches and addresses gender identity from a Christian view of the human person. See also gender and religion.
Background
The EPPC is a think tank with a distinct religious and political position, not a journalistic outlet. Its publications are useful for understanding conservative religious arguments in the American debate, but not as a neutral account of the state of scientific knowledge. See also critical perspectives.
History and leadership
Lefever was president until 1989. The Catholic theologian George Weigel succeeded him and remained in the position until 1996. Edward Whelan then led the institute. He is now vice president. Ryan T. Anderson has been president since February 2021 and joined from the Heritage Foundation. According to its tax return, the EPPC had revenue of $8.99 million in the fiscal year ending in June 2025. From 2003 to 2018, the institute published the magazine The New Atlantis. The EPPC describes itself as the Washington institute that applies a comprehensive view of the human person to questions of law, culture and politics.
Programs and fellows
The website lists twelve programs. In addition to the Person and Identity Project, they include Bioethics, Technology, and Human Flourishing, Catholic Studies, the Catholic Women's Forum, Evangelicals in Civic Life and the Life and Family Initiative. Its fellows include Mary Hasson, Carl R. Trueman, Erika Bachiochi, Carter Snead and Andrew T. Walker. The composition shows that Catholic and evangelical thinkers work together here.
Political role and criticism
The EPPC served on the advisory board of Project 2025, the policy plan for a new Republican administration. In 2025, Jamie Bryan Hall and Anderson published a study on the abortion pill mifepristone based on 865,727 treatments. They concluded that serious adverse effects occurred in 10.93 percent of cases. The study's methodology was criticized. The example shows how the institute uses research to advance policy goals. Anderson's book on transgender healthcare was published by Encounter Books.