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Just before the 2024 U.S. Election, Proskauer’s Reproductive Rights Steering Committee hosted a panel discussion addressing the current state of reproductive rights two years post-Dobbs.

I was honored to lead this conversation with the panel, which included two lawyers from the Center for Reproductive Rights, an organization where I previously served as a senior litigation attorney. The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global human rights organization that uses the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right. During the conversation, Bella Pori, state legislative counsel in the U.S. Policy & Advocacy division, and Alex Wilson, a staff attorney with the Center’s U.S. Judicial Strategy team, outlined the ways the Center’s attorneys and advocates have challenged abortion bans and unnecessary maternal health restrictions, supported expansive policies protecting access to reproductive healthcare, and pushed for access to assisted reproduction. These actions describe some of the many ways the Center seeks to further its mission of ensuring that reproductive rights are protected in law as fundamental human rights for the dignity, equality, health and well-being of every person.

Pro bono work regularly makes a meaningful difference in people’s lives, whether by securing a favorable outcome for an individual or resolving a class action case affecting thousands. While it’s important to recognize and support pro bono efforts in and of themselves, we also need to be able to take a…

Proskauer, in conjunction with attorneys from Children’s Rights, Disability Rights New York, and the National Health Law Program, have filed a class action lawsuit against New York officials in response to the mental health crisis arising from New York’s failure to provide, in sufficient quantity, frequency, and…

When I volunteered in Mexico last spring with two Proskauer colleagues alongside the Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI), I witnessed a growing humanitarian crisis. The U.S. “Remain in Mexico” Policy – officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) – requires asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico for the duration of their U.S. immigration proceedings, a requirement that puts thousands of people in danger. A report issued last week by Human Rights First confirms the danger by detailing current conditions faced by the more than 60,000 migrants now waiting in Mexico. In particular, the report finds:

The families and children migrating from Central America have suffered terrible traumatic experiences, and a recent report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a non-profit advocacy group, addresses the serious, long-term medical consequences of this trauma. These important findings provide compelling support for more humane immigration policies, and inform best practices for lawyers working with immigration clients.

Trauma Suffered by Young Migrants

Multiple studies link trauma to long-term negative health outcomes, including chronic disease, impaired cognitive development, and mental health conditions. With analysis by medical school faculty and students from Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights, the report is significant for its sole focus on child asylum seekers. Out of the 183 children in the study, nearly 80% experienced direct physical violence, 71% experienced threats of violence or death, 59% witnessed acts of violence, and almost 20% experienced repeated sexual violence or exploitation. Sixty percent of the children experienced some form of gang violence, and 47% experienced violence perpetrated by family members. A constant theme among the children was the lack of protection from law enforcement in their home countries. (Eighty-nine percent were from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.)  Many also reported traumatic experiences during transit to the U.S. through dangerous terrain, with inadequate food or water, where they remained vulnerable to continued acts of violence.