Our National Work
Legal Voice’s fight for gender justice extends beyond the Northwest, shaping federal policy, Supreme Court cases, and legal scholarship across the country.
Recent Advocacy
Protecting Access to Abortion Medication (State of Louisiana v. FDA)
We are writing a series of amicus briefs in support of FDA guidance that allows the abortion pill mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth and dispensed by mail and pharmacies. Access to abortion via telemedicine is especially important for survivors of intimate partner violence, who often cannot access in-person care because of their controlling, abusive partners.
Challenging the Trump Administration’s Bans on Gender-Affirming Care for Youth
Legal Voice joined partners in Montana and Washington to submit public comments in opposition to rules proposed by the Trump administration to ban gender-affirming care for youth. Though the administration shelved its proposal to prohibit hospitals from providing care, it adopted the proposal to restrict Medicaid and CHIP coverage. Moving forward, our comments will help serve as a record for challenges to the rule in court.
Recent Legal Scholarship
Abortion Travel Bans
Over the Legal Limit: One State’s Attempt to Control Abortion Healthcare Access Outside Its Borders
by Wendy Heipt, Legal Voice’s Senior Litigation Counsel; William Mitchell, Legal Voice’s Idaho Director; and Kelly O’Neill, Legal Voice’s Idaho Litigation Attorney)
Examines Idaho’s social and political landscape, the state’s passage of the country’s first-ever abortion travel ban, Legal Voice’s challenge to that law, and attempts to pass similar laws in other states.
Fetal Personhood
Legal Voice’s Senior Litigation Counsel, Wendy Heipt, is a national expert on the topic of “legal fetal personhood,” the idea that every single stage of prenatal life is entitled to all the same legal rights as people who have been born. She has coauthored the following publications with partners from across the U.S.
Questions? Email Wendy at wheipt@legalvoice.org
Rejection of Prenatal Personhood (2026)
by the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, State Innovation Exchange (SiX), and Legal Voice
A first-of-its-kind, comparative report that shows how advocates and decision-makers from across the globe have countered the anti-abortion movement’s efforts to expand legal rights for prenatal life.
Fetal ‘Personhood’ on the Global Stage: The United States as Outlier (2026)
By Rebecca B. Reingold, Wendy Heipt and Paulina Macías Ortega
Examines how anti-abortion advocates have made progress in the U.S. — and how similar efforts have been struck down by international courts.
Timeline of Legal Fetal Personhood in the U.S. (2026)
by Wendy Heipt
Comprehensive timeline illustrating the history of the legal fetal personhood movement from 1884 to 2026.
Fetal Personhood Creep (2025)
By Wendy Heipt and Julia Littell
Reveals the process behind “fetal personhood creep,” a covert, incremental, state-based approach to changing the law.
EMTALA in a Post-Dobbs World: The March Towards Fetal Personhood Continues (2023)
By Wendy Heipt
Explains how fetal personhood has impacted the provision of emergency abortion care.
Unregulated Pregnancy Centers
Designed to Deceive: A Study of the Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry in Nine States (2021)
By Gender Justice, Legal Voice, Southwest Women’s Law Center, and Women’s Law Project
Shows how CPCs target pregnant people of color and pregnant people with lower incomes with deceptive marketing; provide few or no real medical services; and systematically mislead clients about services they do provide, potentially resulting in delayed care and unnecessary risks to their clients’ health.
Youth Access to Reproductive Healthcare
Regulation of Abortion Decision-Making Among Young People (2026)
By Legal Voice, State Innovation Exchange, and the O’Neill Institute for Public Health
This report covers efforts to curtail youth access to abortion care, as well as strategies used around the world to protect young people’s rights.
Let's Talk!
We’re excited to build connections across the country, whether it’s through policy change, legal action, or education.
Please reach out if you have any questions or if you’re interested in collaborating.