Life Forum

Emma Waters is a Policy Analyst in the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation. Her work focuses on family, biotechnology, and restorative reproductive medicine. She is a co-author of “A Future for the Family: A New Technology Agenda for the Right” statement at First Things. Her first book, Lead Like Jael, will be released with Skyhorse Publishing in 2026. Emma graduated Valedictorian at Lee University with a B.S. in Political Science and a B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy at The Catholic University of America. She lives in Ambridge, PA while her husband attends seminary, and is serving as the Anglicans For Life Bioethics Consultant in the development of the Anglican Bioethics Center website

Dr. Allen H. Roberts II is a board-certified pulmonologist and critical care physician with over 40 years of experience in respiratory medicine, internal medicine, and medical ethics. Originally from Alexandria, Virginia, he earned his BA from the University of Virginia in 1977 and his MD from George Washington University School of Medicine in 1983. He later obtained an MDiv from Reformed Theological Seminary in 2013 and an MA in Bioethics from Trinity International University. Roberts served 20 years in the US Navy Medical Corps, retiring in 2003, and notably worked as a White House Physician under President George H.W. Bush. For the past two decades, he has practiced at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, where he holds positions as Associate Medical Director and Chair of the Clinical Ethics Committee. He is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians (FCCP) and the American College of Physicians (FACP). A resident of Washington, DC, he is married to Afsoon and has two daughters. The family attends The Falls Church Anglican in Falls Church, VA, where he is ordained. His interests include end-of-life care, transplantation ethics, and postgraduate medical education, particularly in critical care residency training. He has testified against physician-assisted suicide legislation in the District of Columbia.

Elaine Griffith Petty’s experience ranges from working as a pediatric oncology nurse at Children’s National Medical Center in DC to teaching bioethics among university students, business and government leaders in the U.S. and internationally. 

As a faculty member of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University, she teaches bioethics to medical students, helping them learn how to develop coherent moral reasoning as they deal with challenging ethical cases.

She worked for 5 years with a joint venture with the Russian Ministry of Education training Russian teachers to use a curriculum teaching biblical morals and ethics. She also served as a Congressional Fellow where she addressed issues concerning international religious freedom. She is an advisor and speaker on Bioethics for “Faith & Law” on Capitol Hill, helping congressional staffers to consider how faith informs their calling to the public square. 

Elaine has a B.S. in Nursing and a Master’s Degree in Bioethics from Georgetown University. Her article on Moral Implications of Embryonic Stem Cell Research was published by Georgetown University and her master’s thesis entitled Women for Sale and Eggs Needed: Is the Market for Egg Donation Developing Without Oversight That Protects Organ Donors? addresses ethical concerns surrounding the growing market for human egg donors.