Uphill Battle: Challenges and Opportunities for Practicing Reproductive Justice Law

Abstract The assault on women’s reproductive lives in the USA has intensified the need for attorneys to litigate reproductive justice (RJ) cases. Despite widespread violations of pregnant and birthing people’s rights, few lawyers specialize in this area. Drawing on fifty-six in-depth interviews with forty-five attorneys and eleven birth advocates, this article analyzes the cultural, financial, legal, and emotional barriers that limit the practice in RJ cases. Respondents described inadequate legal training and mentorship, deep cultural biases against women challenging medical authority, the overwhelming resources of institutional defendants, the financial precarity of low-paying or pro bono cases, and the emotional toll of representing traumatized clients. These challenges situate RJ cases within, yet distinct from, the broader literature on public interest law, showing how reproductive rights litigation beyond abortion, including cases of obstetric violence, midwifery regulation, and the criminalization of pregnancy, remains marginalized. Using RJ theory, we demonstrate how entrenched ideologies about motherhood shape both legal practice and case outcomes. We conclude by examining strategies attorneys use to sustain this work, from creative legal claims to collaborations with advocacy organizations. Our findings illuminate why representing RJ cases is challenging for attorneys despite urgent and growing demand.