Center for Reproductive Rights Announces Student Policy Advocacy Award

(PRESS RELEASE) The Law School Initiative at the Center for Reproductive Rights is pleased to announce the CRR Student Policy Advocacy Award. This award recognizes policy advocacy by students within their schools and communities that advances the principle that reproductive rights are human rights which those in power must respect, protect, and fulfill. The award, a cash prize of $250, will be given on an ad hoc basis to student groups that are doing the hard work of supporting and advancing policies that reinforce reproductive rights.This semester, CRR is pleased to honor the Reproductive Rights Law Project at Penn Law. The Reproductive Rights Law Project (RRLP) was started in January 2005 by a group of Penn women interested in legislation and legal research advancing reproductive rights. It has broadened into a large organization of Penn students who assist various state, international, and clinical organizations with legal research, lobbying, and client representation.RRLP advocates for all people who seek access to reproductive healthcare and choice in their own reproductive lives. RRLP members perform research aimed at increasing access to reproductive health services and protecting the safety of women and providers. Coordinating with the Women’s Law Project in preparation for litigation and legislative efforts, RRLP members draft memoranda, legal briefs, and white papers on issues ranging from pregnant prisoners’ rights to bubble zone ordinances. In addition, RRLP provides direct services to women, escorting women to and from health clinics, and assisting young women in the judicial bypass review process.  Working with local Philadelphia clinics, RRLP members are available to answer questions for women seeking judicial bypasses, help them with their paperwork, and arrange court dates.We at the Center for Reproductive Rights believe that reproductive rights policy advocacy, including the work now happening on the Penn Law campus, deserves to be recognized and encouraged. For these reasons, we commend the Reproductive Rights Law Project and look forward to presenting them with the CRR Activism in Reproductive Rights Award.The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global human rights organization that works in over 50 countries to use the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right that all governments are legally obligated to protect, respect, and fulfill. The Law School Initiative (LSI) at CRR, launched in 2008, was created to help support and invigorate scholarship and teaching about reproductive rights in law schools.