Extremist judges will not stop endangering the lives of pregnant people or people who may become pregnant—overturning Roe v. Wade, attacking medication abortion, threatening the future of IVF, and this week at SCOTUS, emergency abortion care.
Our lawyers are waging strategic fights that make clear what is at stake for people who can become pregnant and seek to bolster our fundamental rights to control our lives, futures, and destinies.
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The National Women’s Law Center has a project focused on providing assistance to abortion providers – or clinicians who want to become abortion providers – who face employment issues/barriers.
If you are an abortion provider, would like to be an abortion provider, or are a clinician or researcher that has faced or faces employment barriers because of your support for abortion, the National Women’s Law Center would like to hear from you.
We hope you will share your story with us. We may be able to provide information to support you and/or connect you with legal assistance. For more information, please see below.
Please contact Leila Jade Levi
Senior Counsel, National Women’s Law Center
The National Women’s Law Center’s Legal Network for Gender Equity connects abortion providers who face employment issues with legal assistance.
Health care professionals should never fear losing their jobs simply because they treated patients seeking abortion, or because they support abortion access. Yet across the country clinicians are fired, threatened, and otherwise punished for providing abortion services, seeking abortion training, or engaging in advocacy around abortion.
If you are an abortion provider that has faced or faces employment issues or other barriers because of your support for abortion, the National Women’s Law Center may be able to help.
Has an employer denied you a promotion, demoted you, fired you, rescinded a job offer, or threatened to take these or other adverse employment actions against you because:
· You support abortion access?
· You provide abortion or support the provision of abortion at another health care facility?
· You volunteer for a support service related to abortion, like an abortion fund or counseling hotline?
· You have spoken or want to speak publicly in support of abortion access?
· You participated in research relating to abortion?
Health care providers are also often asked to sign contracts that restrict their ability to provide abortion elsewhere or support abortion. Do you have, or are you considering, a contract that prevents you from moonlighting in abortion-related services or otherwise constrains your ability to provide or speak out about abortion?
Even outside of an employment relationship, health care providers can face adverse action because of their support for abortion. Have you ever been denied privileges or been denied admission to a training or study program for any of the above reasons?
Contact the National Women’s Law Center
If any of these things have happened to you, please contact the National Women’s Law Center. We can talk to you about the federal and state laws that offer protection to health care providers who have faced such discrimination. We may be able to take action to help protect you. We would like to hear your story even if you are not in need of legal assistance.
Please contact Leila Jade Levi
Senior Counsel, National Women’s Law Center
Additional Resources
The Abortion Defense Network: The National Women’s Law Center, along with five other leading reproductive rights organizations, launched the Abortion Defense Network, to serve as a legal resource for abortion providers and supporters. The Abortion Defense Network connects abortion providers and supporters with values-aligned attorneys who can provide advice and representation, with most services being offered pro bono, and with legal defense funds that may be able to cover attorneys’ fees and other legal expenses. The Network is open to any individuals or organizations in the role of supporting someone who is seeking abortion care, or any individuals or organizations with questions about what anti-abortion laws mean for them.
Read more about employment discrimination and barriers facing abortion providers in our report, “Diagnosing Discrimination: Barriers Facing Health Care Providers Who Support and Perform Abortion.”
We have toolkits and other legal resources that are available upon request. To request a toolkit or other resource, please email us at [email protected].
The Legal Network for Gender Equity: The Legal Network for Gender Equity connects individuals experiencing sex harassment or other sex discrimination in the workplace, at school, or when receiving health care with legal help. The Legal Network attorneys provide free initial consultations to individuals connected to them through the Legal Network. In order to request legal help from an attorney in the Legal Network, please complete the online request form available here: https://nwlc.org/times-up-legal-defense-fund/legal-help-for-sex-discrimination-and-harassment/
