Renewed War on Drugs, harsher charging policies, stepped-up criminalization of immigrants — in the current climate, joining the NACDL is more important than ever. Members of NACDL help to support the only national organization working at all levels of government to ensure that the voice of the defense bar is heard.
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NACDL’s mission is to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal legal system, and redressing systemic racism, and ensuring that its members and others in the criminal defense bar are fully equipped to serve all accused persons at the highest level.
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On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the federal constitutional standard that had protected the right to abortion. Without any federal standard regarding abortion access, states will set their own policies to ban or protect abortion. The Abortion in the United States Dashboard is an ongoing research project tracking state abortion policies and litigation following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Be sure to click on the buttons or scroll down to see all the content. It will be updated as new information is available.
The larger concern related to the legality of employer-sponsored group health plan coverage of abortion-related travel benefits in the face of a burgeoning number of states seeking to extend their extra-territorial reach to bar or even criminalize individuals who provide abortion-related travel.
The first comprehensive paper about the criminalization of non-clinical abortion in the U.S. and efforts to eliminate threats, while increasing protections, for people who end pregnancies outside the formal healthcare system. It includes a chart listing problematic laws state by state, maps highlighting the places where people who self-induce abortion are most at risk of an unjustified arrest, excerpts from relevant statutes, and case summaries. The report concludes with recommendations for efforts to liberate non-clinical abortion from the constraints of misunderstanding and the restraints of criminalization. *there are two updates to this report*
Much has changed since “Roe’s Unfinished Promise” was first published in 2017 by the SIA Legal Team (now If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice). President Trump has appointed a second abortion opponent to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawmakers across the country have proposed increasingly radical abortion restrictions, imposing gestational limits that begin even before a person may discover that they are pregnant, and in some states, outright criminalizing people who have abortions. This is the first of what we anticipate will be a number of updates detailing the exciting progress being made across the country on our shared journey to making reproductive justice a reality for all — even in the face of regressive political, institutional, and systemic opposition to reproductive freedom.
The Dobbs decision and states’ efforts to ban, curtail and/or criminalize abortions have created multiple legal issues that affect individuals and employers. Fox Rothschild’s attorneys have formed a Post-Dobbs Working Group to evaluate and track these fast-moving developments, and to provide practical advice to clients on how to navigate the post-Dobbs legal landscape. Below is an overview of the developing legal issues.
The increasing risk that the Supreme Court will overturn federal constitutional abortion protections has refocused attention on the role digital service providers of all kinds play in facilitating access to health information, education, and care—and the data they collect in return.
This research brief provides preliminary findings from a multi-year research project to understand who has been targeted by criminalization for self-managing their abortion and how these cases make their way into and through the criminal system. From 2000 to 2020, we identified 61 cases of people who were criminally investigated or arrested for allegedly ending their own pregnancy or helping someone else do so. Cases occurred across 26 states, most of which emerged in Texas, followed by Ohio, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Virginia. Understanding self-managed abortion criminalization over the last twenty years, lends insight into what the criminalization of abortion is likely to look like in a post-Roe America.
Review this resource to understand more about how extreme prosecutors attempt to punish people for abortions in the U.S. Even though abortion is legal in the U.S. and most home abortion is safe, effective, and private, some politically motivated prosecutors are seeking to punish people who end their own pregnancies.
When her community is in danger from a new law that criminalizes treatment of bound eggs, Pigeon wants to help other birds access the healthcare that they need to save their lives - safely and confidentially.
Patients, their family members and friends, doctors, nurses, clinic staff, reproductive rights activists, abortion rights counselors and website operators, insurance providers, and even drivers who help take patients to clinics may face grave risks to their privacy and safety.
Recommendations to protect your online privacy.
Explore the breakdown of abortion laws by state in real-time–and understand abortion bans, types of abortion restrictions, what trigger bans are, and more. This tool is updated in real time.
Read NAPW's first-of-its-kind issue brief detailing the personhood movement, its legal doctrine, applications, implications, constitutional and statutory interpretation arguments against personhood measures, and practical legislative recommendations for policymakers and related disciplines.
This guide is designed to educate and provide practical tools for law enforcement, defense attorneys, child welfare workers, healthcare providers, medical examiners, and legislators to stop the criminalization of pregnancy.
This issue brief summarizes laws, currently in effect in 38 states, authorizing homicide charges for causing pregnancy loss (fetal homicide laws). It outlines the different forms they take and how the laws' language treat zygotes, embryos, and fetuses as human beings — a concept much more threatening to the health and wellbeing of people with the capacity for pregnancy now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned.