Lawyers Network

The Lawyers Network brings together leaders in the legal community to protect and advance reproductive rights and freedoms.

Established by the Center in 2017, the Lawyers Network helps to build knowledge about reproductive rights issues, engage new allies, and empower lawyers to be reproductive rights advocates. Our network works to uphold the rule of law so that reproductive freedoms that lie at the heart of the promise of human dignity, self-determination, and equality can be realized by all.

Legal professionals in our network have the opportunity to participate in thought-provoking discussions, CLE programs, trainings and advocacy campaigns. The Lawyers Network also partners with individual legal leaders and bar associations to publish articles and blog posts on a range of reproductive rights issues.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Lawyers Network and how to stand up and be an ally for reproductive rights, or have any questions about the Lawyers Network, please contact [email protected].

Work Highlights

  • Hosted over 250 legal education programs with over 7,000 audience members

  • Partnered with 100 bar associations and legal organizations, both nationally and in 25 states, to present programs and trainings

  • Published 20 articles with bar association and local newspaper publications in partnership with Center staff and our legal leaders

  • Awards the Reproductive Rights & Justice Award annually in partnership with the American Constitution Society to an ACS law student chapter

  • Awards the Writing Prize for New Student Scholarship in Reproductive Rights & Justice to law student scholars in partnership with If/When/How, the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at Berkeley Law

Action on WHPA

A coalition comprised of 339 legal professionals including lawyers, judges, law students and bar association members are urging Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), a federal legislation that would re-establish a right to abortion nationwide. While the Supreme Court’s decision to keep the abortion pill on the market was a relief, access to abortion remains severely restricted across the country. The urgency for passing WHPA and safeguarding abortion cannot be overstated. Read the full letter here.

Events and Programs

The Lawyers Network hosts a variety of panel discussions, CLE programs and webinars on a range of reproductive rights issues.

Upcoming Events and Programs

Check back here for upcoming programs soon!

Past Events and Programs

Video Available: “After Roe and the Promise of the 14th Amendment” hosted by the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice (August 2023).

Podcast Available: Reproductive Rights Strategy Post-Dobbs with Lauren Elfant from NAWL Talks Podcast (June 2023).

Video Available: “Roe: What’s Next for Floridians Seeking Reproductive Healthcare” hosted by Florida Legal Services featuring Caroline Sacerdote (October 2022).

Video Available: “The End of Roe and the Rule of Law” hosted by the Civil Rights and Social Justice Section at the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting featuring Hillary Schneller (August 2022).

Podcast Available: The Washington & Lee University School of Law, American Constitution Society’s Podcast “Law Talk” featuring Gail Deady (August 2022).

Podcast Available: The American Constitution Society’s Broken Law podcast, “What is Happening? 2022- Mid-Year Check In”, featuring Jenny Ma, Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Reproductive Rights (June 2022).

Video Available: Preserving Roe and the Rule of Law” hosted by American Bar Association’s Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice and featuring Julie Rikelman (December 2021).

Podcast Available: NAWL TALKS podcast, “Julie Rikelman and the Future of Reproductive Rights in the United States” (November 2021).

Video Available: “Access to Abortion Internationally: Laws and Cases”— This panel program was hosted by ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. The program gave an overview of abortion laws and relevant jurisprudence globally. The expert panelists covered court decisions and their treatment of cases of unsafe abortion in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, and the incidence of maternal mortality where there is no access to abortion (October 2021).

June 14, 2021, 12:00 pm EST: “Pregnant in a Time of Crisis: Improving Black Maternal Health Through Advocacy and Law”— This panel program was co-hosted by the National Bar Association, In Our Own Voice, Black Women’s Health Imperative and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The program discussed the unprecedented public health concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of the black maternal health crisis and the historic and contemporary plights black women face when seeking maternal care, and its impact on the community.

June 8, 2021: State of the Union: Reproductive Healthcare in Tennessee — This panel program was co-hosted by the Association for Women Attorneys, the Ben F. Jones chapter of NBA, and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The program discussed the barriers created by elected officials in Tennessee that limit women’s ability to access reproductive and sexual health care. 1.5 CLE credits for qualified attorneys. 

Video AvailableDirect from the Doctors & Lawyers on the Frontlines: Abortion Access in America featuring Joel Dodge, Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy, Center for Reproductive Rights. This webinar was hosted by the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. (January 23, 2020).

Video AvailableMirah Curzer, Co-Chair of the Sex and Law Committee, testified to the New York City Council on behalf of the New York City Bar Association in favor of the Reproductive Health Act (September 20, 2018).

Video AvailableCommon Threads: Examining State Restrictions on 14thAmendment Rights featuring remarks from Robert M. Carlson, American Bar Association President-Elect, Lourdes Rivera, Senior Vice President, U.S. Programs, Center for Reproductive Rights and Martin Quintana, President, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois. This event at the American Bar Association included speakers Steven Monroy, Legislative Staff Attorney, MALDEF, Claudia Valenzuela, Detention Project Director, National Immigrant Justice Center, Camilla Taylor, Acting Legal Director, Lambda Legal- Midwest Regional Office and Amy Myrick, Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy, Center for Reproductive Rights. During a conversation moderated by Laura Beth Nielsen, Research Professor, American Bar Foundation our speakers reflected on recent Supreme Court decisions and the extent to which states can restrict the 14th amendment on four diverse areas of the law – immigration, LGBTQIA rights, reproductive rights and voting rights (March 7, 2018). 

Video Available (registration required): Federal Rulemaking on Contraception and Implications for Women’s Health featuring Mara Gandal-Powers, Director of Birth Control Access and Senior Counsel, National Women’s Law Center and Madeline Gomez, Legal Fellow, Center for Reproductive Rights as part of the American Bar Association’s Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice Rapid Response Webinar Series (October 24, 2017).

Video Available: The Future of Reproductive Rights and the Importance of Bar Engagement featuring Center President &, CEO Nancy Northup and Melissa Murray, Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of Law at Berkeley Law moderated by Slate Magazine Senior Editor Dahlia Lithwick. During a conversation at the New York City Bar Association, our speakers reflected on the 2016 Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt and the current state of reproductive rights law. Nancy Northup also introduced the Lawyers Network and spoke about the vital role lawyers can play in safeguarding constitutional protections for bodily autonomy and reproductive decision-making (October 4, 2017).

Video Available: Connecting the Dots: The Connection Between State Restrictions on Women’s Rights and Lack of Access to Programs Benefiting Low Income Women and Children featuring Center President and CEO Nancy Northup during the 2017 ABA Annual Meeting in New York, NY (August 2017).

Articles and Reports

Article Available: “One Year Later: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in Global Context” by Katy Mayall & Risa E. Kaufman (July 2023).

Article Available: “Religious Liberty and Access to Reproductive Health Care” by Amy Myrick and Sabrina Merold. This article was published in the American Bar Association Human Rights Magazine (July 2022).

Article Available: “Jackson Women’s Health – What’s at Stake Should Roe Fall” by Diamond Brown, Counsel, Lawyers Network. This Article was published in the Bar Bulletin of the King County Bar Association (April 2022).

Article Available: “S.B.8 and Dobbs — What Lawyers Should Know” by Bridgette Jackson, Counsel, Lawyers Network. This Article was published in the Bar Bulletin of the King County Bar Association (November 2021).

Article Available: Reproductive Rights in the Time of COVID-19 by Autumn Katz, Managing Senior Counsel, U.S. Litigation and Nimra Chowdhry, Senior Legislative Counsel, U.S. Policy and Advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published by the American Bar Association, Health Law Section, Health eSource (January 2021).

Blog Post Available: My Abortion Allowed Me to Control My Own Destiny. Millions of Others Deserve The Same Chance by Minouche Kandel, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU of Southern California and signatory to the Lawyers Stories Brief filed in the June Medical Services v. Russo Supreme Court case. This blog post was published by the ACLU Blog (June 11, 2020).

Article Available (subscription required): High Court Must Reject Unconstitutional La. Abortion Law by Charanya Krishnaswami and Michele Coleman Mayes. Two of the lead signatories in the Lawyers Stories Brief filed in the June Medical Services v. Russo Supreme Court case. This article was published in Law 360 (March 2020). PDF Version

Podcast Available: LGBT Rights and Reproductive Justice featuring Scott Ruskay-Kidd, Senior Staff Attorney for Justice Strategy, Center for Reproductive Rights. This Podcast was related by LeGal LGBT Podcast from the LGBT Bar Association of Greater NY. (January 22, 2020).

Article Available: Insight Into What Is At Stake With The Upcoming Supreme Court Appointment by Aracely Muñoz, Special Counsel for the Lawyers Network, Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published in the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Fall Noticias Member Publication (September 2018).

Podcast Available: With Justice Kennedy’s retirement, is Roe v. Wade done for? Featuring Scott Ruskay-Kidd, Senior Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy, Center for Reproductive Rights. This podcast was released by Good Law Bad Law Podcast (July 13, 2018).

Article Available: Abortion, Free Speech And Justice Kennedy’s Last Word by Amy Myrick, Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy, Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published in Law360 (July 12, 2018).

Article Available: If The Court Can’t Force CPCs To Tell The Truth, It Can’t Force Abortion Providers To Lie by Julie Rikelman, Senior Director of Litigation, and Amy Myrick, Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy for the Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published by Huffpost (June 27, 2018).

Article Available: The Attack on Title X- Free to Do What? by Amy Myrick, Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy, and Rachana Desai Martin, Senior Federal Policy Counsel, Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published by the American Constitution Society Blog (May 31, 2018).

Article Available: Justices Should Uphold State Reproductive FACT Act by Amy Myrick, Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy, Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published by The Daily Journal (December 15, 2017).

Article Available: Symposium: The First Amendment Cannot Justify Lying to Women  by Julie Rikelman, Senior Director of Litigation, Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published by the SCOTUS blog (December 13, 2017).

Article Available: Masterpiece Cakeshop SCOTUS Case Could Also Doom Women’s Rights by Lourdes Rivera, Senior Vice President of U.S. Programs, Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published by Salon (December 5, 2017).

Article AvailableAbortion, Immigration, and the Courts – Three Judicial Approaches by Amy Myrick, Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy, Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published by The American Constitution Society Blog (October 26, 2017)

Amicus Brief Available: The Center for Reproductive Rights’ Hillary Schneller and Pilar Herrero filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) in the case Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Family Planning and Preventative Health Services Inc, v. Smith (October 13, 2017). 

Article Available: Do states with abortion restrictions protect women’s health? Report finds an inverse relationship by Debra Cassens Weiss. This blog post, published by the American Bar Association, highlights Nancy Northup’s remarks during the ABA Annual Meeting on the panel, “Connecting the Dots: The Connection Between State Restrictions on Women’s Rights and Lack of Access to Programs Benefiting Low Income Women and Children.” For more information see “Evaluating Priorities: Measuring Women’s and Children’s Health and Well-being against Abortion Restrictions in the States- Volume II” (August 2017).

Article Available: The Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice of Latinas: An Imperative for Latina Leadership by Lourdes Rivera, Senior Vice President of U.S. Programs, Center for Reproductive Rights. This article was published in the Hispanic National Bar Association’s E-Noticias Newsletter (June 15, 2017).

Article AvailableOral Arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt:  The Justices Break Their Long Silence on Abortion Rights by Amy Myrick, Staff Attorney for Judicial Strategy, Center for Reproductive Rights. This blog post was published by the American Bar Association’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Committee blog (March 24, 2016).

Ways to Get Involved

Partner with the Lawyers Network to host a program, write an article for your bar association, or bring a resolution on reproductive rights to your bar association. Email [email protected] for more information.

Join the Network

As a lawyer, you have an important role to play in protecting access to the full range of reproductive health services. Join the Lawyers Network and help safeguard protections for self-determination and equality. Email [email protected] for more information.