Professional Training

By connecting people and resources across the legal community we can build more collective power to realize reproductive justice for all.

If/When/How seeks to bring more legal professionals into the reproductive justice movement because we believe that the movement is stronger when we work together across disciplines. With our webinars and trainings, we help lawyers to understand that the legal system is often a barrier to true justice, to appreciate the need for a variety of strategies for effectuating change, and to shape law and policy that enables everyone to decide if, when, and how to create families. Our issue briefs and reports are tools you can use to learn more about RJ issues and how the law impacts them. Deepen your engagement by joining our RJ Lawyers Network.

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Amicus Brief: Allegheny Reproductive Health Center vs. Pennsylvania DHS

If/When/How authored an amicus brief cosigned by 23 organizations working in Pennsylvania and the U.S. to ensure Reproductive Justice and the health and well-being of Black women and girls. Read more

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Amicus Brief: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

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"Roe was Right, but McRae was Wrong"

In Ms. magazine on the 2015 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, If/When/How Executive Director Jill E. Adams and co-author Jessica Arons revisit the perhaps lesser known Harris v. McRae, the 1980 Supreme Court case that upheld the Hyde Amendment, which outlaws federal funding for abortion care for those enrolled in Medicaid. Read more

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Bringing Families out of ‘Cap’tivity: the Path Toward Abolishing Welfare Family Caps

This issue brief from the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at Berkeley Law, produced by If/When/How Executive Director Jill E. Adams, J.D., "outlines the pejorative purposes and punitive effects of Family Caps, highlights their repercussions for poverty, chronicles repeal efforts in other states, and discusses the need for their elimination nationwide." Read more

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'20-21 RJFP Fellow Application

Applications for the '20-21 Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program are closed. RJ Fellowships include RJ Federal (Washington, D.C.), RJ-HIV, and RJ State, which will place Fellows in the U.S. Southeast. The deadline for returning the application was November 1, 2019. Read more

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Lawyering for RJ Convening Report

Report from first-ever convening of legal professionals to explore what it means to lawyer for reproductive justice. Read more

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Villegas v. Davidson County

If/When/How (then LSRJ) joined this amicus brief authored by Human Rights Project for Girls in support of plaintiff Juana Villegas. The brief argued that the practice of shackling pregnant women in jails, prisons, and detention centers violates international law. Read more

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Zubik v. Burwell

If/When/How (then LSRJ) joined the amicus brief authored by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health in support of the U.S. Government. The brief argued that contraceptive coverage accommodation does not pose a substantial burden on the petitioners' religious exercise and that control over reproduction is essential to dignity and equality for women. Read more

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Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

If/When/How (then LSRJ) joined the amicus brief authored by the National Women's Law Center in support of the U.S. Government in the case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The brief argued that the contraception regulations of the Affordable Care Act pose no substantial burden on Hobby Lobby's religious exercise and that the regulations are necessary to advance both public health and women's equality. Read more

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Cochran v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

If/WhenHow (then LSRJ) joined this amicus brief authored by National Advocates for Pregnant Women in support of the appellant Ina Cochran. The brief argued that criminal abuse charges should not be used to punish women who become pregnant and give birth in spite of a drug problem. Read more

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Patel v. State of Indiana

If/When/How (then LSRJ) joined this amicus brief authored by the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum and the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law in support of appellant Purvi Patel. The brief argued that the court should not criminalize self-induced abortion. Read more

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