January 28, 2025
By If/When/How

We repeat it over and over: do not talk to cops. We even put it on a t-shirt. And we also know it’s often easier said than done. It might not provide enough for someone to feel solid in exercising your rights and knowing where to get trusted help while building community safety. Confusion and legitimate fear rises in times of instability, intense attacks, concurrent crises, and state surveillance.

Exactly what the first 100 days of the Trump administration will bring is unknown, but we know they intend to make it as frightening as possible for people to do the direct action, mutual aid, and advocacy that this moment requires. We compiled a list of trusted help: hotlines, know-your-rights guides, networks of local legal advocates, and funds that can cover care, legal defense, and bail.

For abortion and gender-affirming care seekers and pregnant people:

First and foremost, laws change rapidly. Our abortion laws by state map keeps track and updates the various overlapping bans and restrictions in the U.S. Bookmark it and keep it handy as state legislators are in session, courts issue rulings, and executive orders get signed.

And here’s other vital places to figure out how to get abortions, the funds, and logistics to make it accessible in real time.

  • Repro Legal Helpline: Reach out through a call or click for legal services and legal questions about abortion, pregnancy loss, and birth, no matter your age or immigration status. Check out our guides such as “Know Your Rights: Abortion Across State Lines.”
  • M+A Hotline: A free hotline for people seeking information and support for their miscarriage or abortion staffed by health care providers and clinicians.
  • I Need An A and Abortion Finder: Easily search to find your closest open clinics, how to access abortion pills by mail, and other regional resources for funding and more.
  • Abortion funds: Connect with local and multi-state funds that can provide funds to cover the costs of accessing abortion care.
  • Brigid Alliance: A national fund that partners with local organizations that can help book, coordinate, and pay for travel, travel expenses, and child care for abortion seekers.
  • Repro Legal Defense Fund: A legal defense fund that provides financial support for people investigated or fighting charges in criminal, immigration, or family court related to their pregnancy or abortion.
  • Keep Our Clinics: A fundraising campaign to protect access to local care and support independent clinics across the country.

Under 18: 

Young people, specifically minors, navigate more laws and face more barriers and state interference in their reproductive decisions and getting care.

  • Repro Legal Helpline: Have questions about the laws in your state or need help with the judicial bypass process? Check out this FAQ or contact us.
  • Jane’s Due Process: They help young people in Texas navigate parental consent laws, judicial bypass, and abortion bans to access abortion and birth control confidentially.
  • Michigan Organization of Adolescent Sexual Health: An organization mobilizes youth voices, engages community partners, and informs decision-makers to advance sexual health, identities, and rights in Michigan. They offer technical assistance, training, and support.
  • National Center for Youth Law: A national organization that advocates and provides direct service with and for youth in a range of areas that impact their lives and communities.
  • Advocates for Youth: They work alongside thousands of young people here in the U.S. and around the globe as they fight for sexual health, rights, and justice.

Immigrants: 

Trans and nonbinary people: 

  • Transgender Law Center: They have a legal information help desk, do impact litigation, and also run programs like the Border Butterflies Project, Prisoner Mail Program, and Attorney Solidarity Network.
  • Trans Lifeline: A grassroots hotline offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community.
  • LGBTQ Freedom Fund: The fund pays bail to secure the safety and liberty of LGBTQ+ individuals in jail and immigration detention.
  • Black and Pink: A prison abolitionist organization dedicated to liberating LGBTQIA2S+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS who are affected by that system through advocacy, support, and organizing. Sign up for their pen pal program.
  • Black Trans Travel Fund: A Black trans-led collective rooted in self-advocacy and mutual aid for Black trans women providing travel support, connecting communities internationally.

For helpers, doulas, advocates, and supporters:

  • Abortion Defense Network: A collaboration that provides legal advice and connects supporters and helpers with values-aligned attorneys.
  • Apiary: A national hub providing resources and technical assistance for groups offering practical support and logistics for abortion seekers.
  • Join the If/When/How Network: Use your skills to provide advocacy and community-based care when someone is in crisis.
  • Digital Defense Fund: Excellent guides, zines, and training on digital and operational security, including direct technical assistance on helping organizations have the infrastructure to keep their information secure and protect their people.

For lawyers: 

  • Get technical and litigation assistance: If you are a criminal defense attorney, If/When/How can provide training, litigation support, and co-counsel your case.
  • Join the If/When/How Network: Membership is free! We need your pro-bono skills to help people who need legal representation with a judicial bypass, housing, intimate partner violence, as well as criminal, immigration, and family defense.

For health care providers:

You have a role to play in stopping the policing and criminalization of patients and those seeking urgent care.