By If/When/How
Join us in celebrating the ‘24-’26 RJ Fellows: Kearney, Kira, Tamara, Alexia, Natasha, Maude, and Hannah!
Over two years, they honed their lawyering skills from direct services, to policy advocacy, to public education, and administrative law to accomplish crucial wins during a hostile second Trump administration bent on unleashing state violence at every turn.
Here are a few of the countless ways they furthered and defended reproductive justice in courts, capitols, and communities:
- Helped pass the Anti-Harassment in Reporting Act, a bill in New York State to prevent the weaponization of anonymous reports to the family regulation system as a tool of harassment.
- Weathered the chaotic threats to Medicaid and federal family planning funding, developed a policy toolkit, and worked alongside states to expand access and coverage of sexual and reproductive health care.
- Provided trauma-informed direct support and client care to those who experienced obstetric violence or were targeted by family policing, including submitting complaints to the Office of Civil Rights.
- Led two policy campaigns and organized in the South. One focused on fertility justice and the other to call out anti-abortion, crisis pregnancy cen
- ters that receive funds from the state while peddling misinformation, stigma, and coercion.
- Created immigrant justice know-your-rights trainings for health care providers to respond to ICE showing up and authored an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the cases attacking mifepristone.
- Supported and organized alongside young people in Texas throughout a wild and demanding legislative session that required rapid response, while also doing critical community education to empower Texans to know and exercise their rights.
- Advocated at the state level to try to curb the harms of CPS investigations and family separations, including building out advocacy tools such as a bill roadmap, one-pagers, draft memos, and more for the Family Integrity Act.
We’re so proud of every single one of them.
One graduating Fellow shared that, “I wouldn’t have gone to law school if this Fellowship didn’t exist.”That’s why this program matters.
We’re so honored to support future lawyers as they launch their careers to fight for all of us to have the dignity, safety, and power to make decisions about our bodies and families, without barriers, threat, or punishment.