What to Expect When Reaching Out
Thank you for reaching out to the Repro Legal Defense Fund. We exist to help keep the financial and emotional cost of criminalization as low as possible. We hope we can assist you during this difficult time.
If you are someone who is being criminalized for an abortion (at home or in a clinic), pregnancy loss, or for something that happened during your pregnancy, we may be able to help.
Who do we provide funds for?
Our fund provides financial assistance to people who have been criminalized for their pregnancy outcome:
- Self-Managed Abortion: Many laws and policies keep people from accessing abortion that they want and need. People who self-manage abortion — either because they can’t access a clinic, or because it’s the care that feels right to them–can receive assistance from the RLDF.
- In-Clinic Abortions: Even though abortion criminalization until this point has been targeted to those self-managing their abortion, the RLDF will also provide assistance to people criminalized for an abortion they’ve had in a clinic.
- Pregnancy loss: If you are criminalized for a stillbirth or a miscarriage, the RLDF can provide assistance.
- Substance abuse allegations: If you are criminalized for substance abuse allegations or something that happened during your pregnancy, the RLDF can provide assistance.
What kind of financial assistance is available?
RLDF financial assistance includes bail plus practical support costs for the whole human who is criminalized:
- Bail, bond, electronic monitoring, and other costs to ensure release from jail
- Attorney fees, investigation expenses, medical experts, mitigation specialists, and expert witness fees
- Transportation to essential court dates and appointments
- Therapy and treatment costs
- Fines, treatment, court fees, and sentencing costs
- Commissary, email, phone calls, family visits, and other incarceration-related expenses
What are the next steps?
After you fill out one of the forms below (for Attorneys or Non-Attorneys), you should receive an immediate email confirming your submission. We will review your information to see if it falls within our scope of assistance, and whether we have enough information to make a decision regarding your case. If you marked your application urgent because, for instance, bail has been set in an amount you cannot afford, we will do our best to prioritize your application.
Our staff will conduct a follow-up call with you as soon as possible, to discuss your needs, answer any questions, and collect any additional information we may require. If we are unable to take your case, we will try our best to provide you with helpful and personalized resources.
Attorney Application
We recognize that fighting back against prosecutions is costly. The RLDF wants to ensure that a robust criminal defense is made available to everyone regardless of financial ability. If you are an attorney representing someone accused of allegedly self-managing an abortion, please fill out this form to obtain financial support for your client's bail, attorney fees, expert witness fees and/or court costs.
Non-Attorney Application
Please note anything you submit to us will be kept in confidence. Feel free to fill out the form to the extent you feel comfortable and leave any sections you do not wish to fill blank.