Dorinda C. Bordlee, Esq. was Vice President, Senior Counsel of Bioethics Defense Fund, a public-interest organization that creates winning arguments for life to benefit lawmakers, courts, students and citizens across the United States and abroad. Bordlee and BDF co-founder Nikolas T. Nikas address bioethics issues including abortion, healthcare rights of conscience, human cloning/embryonic stem cell research, and end of life matters. Bordlee has dedicated her law practice to sanctity of life constitutional issues since 1994.
Dorinda’s expertise is in the public policy realm, having drafted legislation and user-friendly educational pieces for dozens of States on the full range of bioethics issues.
Dorinda also has wide-ranging litigation and appellate advocacy experience defending the constitutionality of life protective laws in U.S. federal courts, and the United States Supreme Court via the drafting of amicus briefs for national medical organizations. She has consulted with members and legal staff of the President’s Council on Bioethics since its founding during the Bush administration.
Dorinda is the author of a chapter on abortion alternatives in the 2004 book entitled The Cost of Choice, and she has published articles and opinion pieces on topics including authentic feminism, healthcare conscience rights, and human cloning in national publications, along with discussing these topics on television and radio broadcasts. Her speaking engagements range from university and law schools to national and international legal and medical conferences, including the Rome conferences of Matercare and the International Catholic Medical Association.
Dorinda received her B.A. in Finance, summa cum laude (1987), and Juris Doctor (1990) from Loyola University, New Orleans where she served as managing editor of the law review. She clerked for the Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court before joining a practice in law enforcement defense. She and her husband Tony Bordlee live in New Orleans and are the proud parents of four young adult children.
Education
- Loyola University School of Law, New Orleans, law review honors (J.D.)
- Loyola University New Orleans, summa cum laude (B.B.A.)
Clerkship
- Louisiana Supreme Court, Chief Justice Pascal Calogero
Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and D.C. Circuits
- U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana
- Louisiana State Bar
Publications of Note
- Nikas N.T., Bordlee D., Morena M., Determination of Death and the Dead Donor Rule: A Survey of the Current Law on Brain Death, The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (2016). [link]
- Bordlee, Dorinda C., Abortion-Alternative Legislation and the Law of the Gift, chapter in The Cost of Choice: Women Evaluate the Impact of Abortion (Bachiochi, E., ed.)(Encounter Books, 2004). [link]
- Bordlee, Dorinda C., Personal Testimony, chapter in Magnificat Proclaims (Magnificat Central Service Team, Inc., ed.)(2015). [link]
By BDF-Admin
