A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER

On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and abandoning nearly 50 years of precedent supporting a Constitutional right to abortion. The impact of this decision was immediate and devastating. In the first 100 days following the Dobbs decision, 66 clinics across 15 states were forced to stop offering abortions (14 of those states implemented total or 6-week bans). In the year ahead, a total of 26 states are expected to ban abortion.

It has never been more clear that state legislatures are among the most important battlegrounds in fighting for civil and human rights. We cannot rely on the current Supreme Court to defend these rights and we cannot afford to ignore the immense power state legislatures wield - which is why I was so proud to launch our State Legislative Advocacy Academy (SLAA) in August 2022. Through the SLAA, we are training hundreds of lawyers and law students across the country to put their skills to work in support of state-level policy fights.

At the same time, we launched the Reproductive Health Legal Assistance Project (RHLAP) to ensure that every patient who is legally entitled to care receives it; our Climate Change program is working to get billions of dollars in infrastructure funding in the hands of disadvantaged communities; and our Project Corazon team continues to provide legal services to vulnerable asylum seekers during one of the worst humanitarian crises we’ve seen in the Rio Grande Valley.

We couldn't do this work without your support, so I thank you for being part of the L4GG community. I hope you find this newsletter to be a source of inspiration, as it is for me.

Fighting To Protect Access To Legal Abortion Care

Following the devastating Supreme Court decision in Dobbs earlier this year, L4GG was approached by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a membership organization of more than 62,000 OB-GYNs, with a need for immediate answers to various legal questions and how they intersect with medical practices. OB-GYNs are now faced with the impossible task of complying with complex, restrictive, and ever-changing laws that interfere with their ability to provide essential health care to their patients.

To address this need, we’re working with ACOG and pro bono partners at large law firms and corporate legal departments to build a large-scale project that provides clear, up-to-date legal guidance to healthcare providers in states and territories across the country. In doing so, we aim to ensure that no patient who is legally entitled to abortion care is denied that care because their reproductive health care provider lacked accurate legal information. Learn more at L4GG.org/ReproHealth.

Training Lawyers To Fight For Change In State Legislatures

Abortion bans, limits on healthcare for transgender people, restrictions on how to vote – state laws nationwide are infringing on civil and human rights. As lawyers, we have the skills and expertise that can make a difference in these state-level policy fights, but only if we are willing to do the work.

The State Legislative Advocacy Academy (SLAA) is a first-of-its-kind training program geared towards lawyers and law students to learn how to use their unique skills to influence public policy in their home states. To lead this program, we hired LaTonya Joyner-Gregory as L4GG’s first Director of Attorney Impact & Engagement; she’s a seasoned leader who helped secure an important victory for reproductive health in Virginia in 2018.

SLAA webinar sessions began in late August, however, there’s still time to join. Lawyers and law students who watch or attend all modules will be invited to join our 2023 Leadership Cohort, a select group of advocates that we’ll support during the 2023 state legislative session to enact progressive policy goals at the state level. Learn more at L4GG.org/SLAAINFO.

Helping Vulnerable Communities Access Infrastructure Funding

The federal government has authorized a historic $2 trillion investment in green energy and infrastructure through recent climate and infrastructure bills, however, states lack the information necessary to prioritize funding to communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

This is why we created our “Disadvantaged Communities Report,” an interactive document that allows stakeholders from each state to find equity policy guidelines and definitions available about communities in their state that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. We’ve also launched our Funding Clinic Webinar Series to provide state and local governments and underserved communities with guidance on how to obtain federal funding to address environmental justice and climate change.

Policymakers need this information to upgrade infrastructure and build climate resilience projects for vulnerable communities that have historically been ignored. Frontline communities need this information to overcome the barriers to entry they historically face when applying for federal funds. Our work will ensure this historic investment combats climate inequities instead of exacerbating them.

Learn more about our efforts to ensure “good government” in forthcoming federal infrastructure spending at L4GG.org/DAC.

Project Corazon Faces Humanitarian Crisis in Reynosa, MX

There’s a growing humanitarian crisis at the southern border that is going unnoticed by many Americans. Local aid groups in Reynosa, MX estimate that roughly 6,000 migrants are living in camping tents on the streets without access to running water and protection from dangerous cartel activity. That’s more than twice the number of asylum seekers who were in the Matamoros refugee camps in 2019.

Learn more and help spread the word at L4GG.org/GivePC.

Invest In Human Rights And Equal Justice

Support our critical work on immigrants’ rights, climate change, racial justice, and other emergent legal issues. We count on your donations, large or small, one-time or monthly. L4GG is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.