Setting the Stage for Future Advocates: the NWLC/LSRJ Training
On June 11, 2010 the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ) co-sponsored a reproductive law and policy training in Washington, D.C. Sixty people attended, representing 27 different law schools and 28 different organizations.
The event was a unique opportunity for attendees to tap into NWLC’s and LSRJ’s wealth of knowledge. Mariko Miki from LSRJ provided participants with a background of LSRJ and offered support for students interested in starting or reinvigorating a chapter at their law school. Judy Waxman, Vice President of Health and Reproductive Rights at NWLC, and Beth Sousa, Senior Counsel at NWLC, explained how health care reform affects women’s access to health care, particularly abortion. It was inspiring to hear about the benefits women can expect from health reform, and that despite some setbacks, no one has given up on keeping abortion coverage in health insurance benefit plans.
Steph Sterling, NWLC’s Director of Government Relations, staged a role-playing event that showed participants they already have the knowledge and skills to advocate for reproductive justice in the halls (and elevators!) of Congress. Jill Morrison, Senior Counsel at NWLC, taught participants just how much is at stake when religious restrictions are placed on access to reproductive health care. Participants split into smaller groups for other presentations from Mariko Miki, Jill Morrison, Dina Lassow, Kelli Garcia and Micole Allekotte. Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel at NWLC, gave an important presentation on the state of reproductive justice in the courts. Her presentation focused on how Roe v. Wade has been systematically broken down and reproductive rights have been stripped away by other major cases and state-level legislation. Unfortunately, a thorough analysis of the cases and the status of reproductive rights is often missing from law school curricula. LSRJ has a “Con Law Primer” that can help students who want to learn more than what is provided in their classroom. LSRJ also has a model curriculum for a course on reproductive rights that students can use as part of an independent study or to encourage their school to offer a similar course.
The final session of the day was a career panel featuring Gretchen Borchelt, Diana Aguilar from Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Mark Egerman from the National Abortion Federation, Paige Herwig Chief Counsel for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Priscilla Huang from the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, and Jessica Waters, professor at American University. After a day full of presentations that inspired participants to fix the state of reproductive rights, the panel was a great way to see the multiple paths that lead into the world of reproductive justice careers and the variety of legal positions available.
While it is clear that there is a lot of work ahead to prevent women from losing access to essential reproductive health services, there is a dedicated and motivated group of new lawyers to take on the job.
This post originally appeared on Womenstake, the blog for the National Women’s Law Center and was written by Mara Gandal-Powers and Jocelyn Moore, NWLC Interns.