Goodwin October 2026 Research Clinic Instructions

Project Overview:

Lawyers for Good Government’s Gender Justice & Health Equity Team seeks Goodwin Procter LLP’s assistance in researching state laws and Department of Corrections (“DOC”) policies related to pregnant people who are incarcerated. 

L4GG launched the Policy Resource Hub in early 2023 in order to address the urgent need for clarity around the state of the law. Through the work of over 500 pro bono attorneys (including many Goodwin attorneys) and L4GG’s own in-house experts, the Hub is updated every single business day for every U.S. state and territory and verified for accuracy. It currently answers 3 questions: 1) until what point in pregnancy is abortion legal; 2) what are that state’s exceptions, exemptions and affirmative defenses to its abortion laws; and 3) what are the state’s laws relating to minors accessing abortion care. 

With your help, we have also been able to research the documentation and reporting requirements for providing abortion care across all states and territories. We will soon be adding this information to the Hub, which will provide critical support to providers as they navigate complex and overlapping requirements that can create barriers to care.

We now plan to launch an additional question to the Hub, in response to a repeatedly expressed need from our community, focusing on state laws and DOC policies related to pregnant people who are incarcerated.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:

L4GG is a community of 125,000 lawyers, law students, and activists fighting to ensure equal rights, equal opportunities and equal justice under the law. We coordinate large scale pro bono programs and engage in advocacy and policy work, seeking not only to establish and enforce equality under the law, but to also create the social and economic conditions that lead to true equity.

Instructions for Participating VOLUNTEERs:

  1. Attend the Training.

    Training will be held on October 7 at 12 pm ET. The clinic will begin with a training by L4GG’s attorneys on the context and importance of the research, as well as the research questions and methods. 

  2. Review the Research Questions.

    We recommend that you review each of the research questions and decide on the order of your research prior to beginning. Please note that we are not seeking research on federal policies or policies of local counties or sheriff’s offices. Please focus specifically on state statutes and policies governing state facilities. While you are researching, we recommend that you pull the questions into a separate document for your particular state/territory, so that you are able to take notes as you research. 

  3. Conduct Your Research.

    When starting, we recommend conducting a simple Google search of your state and checking the state’s Department of Corrections policies. Please note that states that are more affirming to transgender people will have more publicly available information regarding their policies than states that are less affirming to transgender people. 

    Review the “Supplemental Tools and Resources” section of this document for additional background materials that you can use to guide your search.

    Brainstorm terms before you begin your search. Most topics can be described in numerous ways, and not all jurisdictions will use the same terminology. Develop a list of relevant terms up front and continue to refine it as you continue your research.

    1. Keyword recommendations include: “Reproductive healthcare; “Protections;” “Fetus;” “Fetal Life;” “Abortion access;” “Abortion medication;”  “Pregnancy-related healthcare;” “Obstetrical care;” “Maternity care;” “Reproductive rights;” “Corrections;” “Correctional facilities;” “Carceral facilities;” “Incarcerated;”  “Incarcerated people;” “Inmates;” “Pregnant;” “Pregnancy;” “Postpartum;” “Postnatal;” “Shackling;” “Restraints;” “Irons;” “Belly chains;” “Confinement;” “Solitary confinement;” “Cavity search;” “Restrictive housing;”“Mothers;” “Women;” “Newborn;” “Childbirth;” “Birth;” “Birthing Person;”  “Prenatal care;” “Prenatal services;” “labor and delivery;” “medical care;” “Copays;” “Copay exceptions;” “Payments;” “Payment requirements;” “Payor restrictions;” “Financial responsibility;” “Medical expenses;” “Reasonable fees;” “healthcare costs” and “medical costs”

    2. Note: Keywords used together may prompt the most responsive answers, such as: “[State]” + “abortion” + “incarcerated individual” + “Department of Corrections policy”

  4. As you are researching, please double check to ensure that a given law or regulation is presently in effect, as the legal landscape has changed significantly in recent years. Where relevant, please summarize the case law and litigation history and explain how those decisions have affected the current state of the law. 

    Look for coverage from reputable secondary sources. News articles can help decipher what is happening with a given law in plain terms. 

  5. Compile Your Research.

    We recommend that during the legal research process, you gather your findings in a Word or Google document prior to completing the online form.

  6. Citations.

    Whenever discussing any laws, regulations, or cases in your responses, please provide both the Bluebook citation and link to the citation in Justia. We ask that any citations to statute are linked to Justia - if you find the citation or case in Westlaw or Lexis, please then search for it in Justia to provide a publicly available link. This allows us to easily add the research to public facing materials for our community. 

  7. Copy with Hyperlink: 

    Whenever possible, please copy a link directly to the relevant section of the code you’re citing.  You can do this by right clicking on text in the relevant public web page and selecting the option to “copy link to highlight,” so whoever clicks said link is brought to the exact text you highlighted, helping readers navigate text-heavy documents. 

  8. Submit Your Research.

    Once you have completed your research, please copy and paste your team’s findings into the corresponding fields using this online form. Only one form should be submitted for each state by the team.

    Please check your answers for accuracy before pressing “Submit.”

    If you are not able to submit your research before the end of the clinic, please make sure to submit by Friday, October 9.

  9. Repeat Steps #2-7 for Each State Assigned to Your Team

Questions?

  • During the clinic: Click the “Raise Hand” button or come into the main Zoom room

  • After the clinic: Email Zane@L4GG.org and Lauren@L4GG.org

Tools:

As you conduct your research, we recommend you consult the following resources:

Primary Sources

  • Your Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg or Fastcase Account: We request that you begin all primary research in whichever subscription legal research tool you have access to and then utilize additional research tools to ensure that you are viewing the most updated version of the law. If your subscription includes an AI tool, it may be helpful for locating statutes and state Department of Corrections policies and for confirming, updating, and supplementing your research with current statutes and case law. If you do use an AI tool, please independently verify any information provided by it.

  • Justia: This is a publicly available resource for the state codes of each jurisdiction. However, it does not include Westlaw or Lexis’s keycite or red flags to show if there is superseding case law. If you need to cite a historical version of a state statute, please provide a Justia hyperlink citation to the most recent version of the statute or the relevant historical version of the statute as appropriate

    Supplemental Tools and Resources

  • The Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness of Incarcerated People (ARRWIP) has published resources on reproductive health care for incarcerated people and pregnancy anti-shackling laws. Note: research may be outdated and should be cross-checked.

  • The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has published “State Standards for Pregnancy-Related Health Care and Abortion for Women in Prison” which includes a state directory of  state DOC policies and state laws. Additionally some ACLU state affiliates have their own Know-Your-Risks materials regarding reproductive rights while incarcerated, including the ACLU-Illinois Note: research may be outdated and should be cross-checked.

  • The Network for Public Health published an issue brief on “State Laws Regulating Access to Abortion Care in Carceral Facilities” that cites to various state laws and DOC policies relating to abortion access and payor restrictions. Note: research may be outdated and should be cross-checked.

  • The Prison Policy Initiative has published briefings on incarcerated people’s access to abortion and medical neglect. Note: research  may be outdated and should be cross-checked.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

(PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE CITATIONS AND LINKS WHEN AVAILABLE FOR EACH OF YOUR ANSWERS)

For your assigned state, please answer the following questions:

[1] Does the state have any laws, regulations, or policies regulating access to abortion care in carceral facilities? If yes,

[1a] Please identify the relevant law, regulation, policy, rule, or other authority and describe how it regulates access to abortion care, including whether it requires, permits, restricts, or prohibits such care.

[1b] Please provide a citation and public link to the relevant law.
Note: Restrictive states’ abortion ban may control carceral abortion access while more protective states may have carceral-specific abortion provisions on the books, with payor questions answerable based on insurance mandates.

[2]Are there any payer or payment-related restrictions on accessing abortion care while incarcerated in the state? If yes,

[2a] Please identify the relevant law, regulation, policy, rule, or other authority and describe how it affects payment for or access to abortion care.

[2b] Please provide a citation and public link to the relevant law.

[3]What are the state DOC’s policies regarding pregnancy and pregnancy-related care for incarcerated individuals?

[3a] Please identify the relevant policies and summarize the provisions addressing pregnancy, prenatal care, labor and delivery, postpartum care, and any related reproductive health care. 

[3b] Please provide a citation and public link to the relevant law.

[4]Does the state have any laws, regulations, or policies restricting or prohibiting the use of custody restraints during labor, delivery, or the immediate postpartum period? If yes,

[4a] Please identify the relevant law, regulation, policy, rule, or other authority and describe the circumstances under which restraints are permitted, restricted, or prohibited.

[4b] Please provide a citation and public link to the relevant law.

Once you have completed your research, please submit your responses (with citations/links) using this online form. Thank you for contributing to this important project.