By If/When/How
To learn more about the emerging lawyers who are embarking on our two-year-long Reproductive Justice Fellowship program, If/When/How asked five questions to each one of our ’26-’28 RJ Fellows. Here’s what H. Reynolds Martínez shared with us.
Tell us the basics: Your name, law school, and what placement organization you’ll be at for your Fellowship.
My name is H Reynolds Martínez. I went to UCLA Law School, where I specialized in the Critical Race Studies program and the Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. I am working with the National Center for Youth Law during the RJ Fellowship.
Who are you beyond that? Whatever you want to share to highlight your biography or speak to the experience you’re bringing to the Fellowship.
In law school, my focus was on education law and policy as it relates to race, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. During this time, I worked for multiple semesters as a legal advocate for students requiring special education services in Los Angeles. I also wrote and published three academic articles related to education on topics including restorative justice, book bans, and censorship of education about gender and race. I also have volunteered as a crisis counselor for LGBTQ+ youth for The Trevor Project for about four years.
What are you most excited about as you start your Fellowship? Why are you driven to focus on youth access?
I’m excited to work in youth access given my extensive experience within education law and policy, especially given opportunities to directly engage with and learn from youth working in the movement. I’ve worked with high schoolers in athletics and mentorship settings throughout my career, but I am especially drawn to the opportunity to support and invest in young leaders who are already doing the work to build a safer and more inclusive future.
If you could snap your fingers and change or accomplish one thing around youth access to advance repro justice, what would that change be?
If I could immediately accomplish anything within youth access, I’d want to repeal all parental notification and consent laws, allowing youth to have control over their own access to medical care. It seems hypocritical to me to allow youth to make the hugely impactful life/medical decision to give birth without notifying a parent or obtaining consent, yet many states restrict the right to choose not to make such a life-altering decision.
What’s one new, inspiring, or fascinating thing you’ve been into lately? It can be a hobby, album, movie, internet trend, research rabbit hole, etc.
Lately, I’ve been enjoying kayaking, running, and biking in and around the Finger Lakes, where I live. It’s nice being somewhere with so much nature after living in Los Angeles for three years.