Legal Intern - Reproductive Freedom Project

About the Role

The ACLU seeks a Summer Legal Intern in the Reproductive Freedom Projectof the ACLU’s National office in New York City. This is a remote or hybrid position.

Qualifying applicants must currently be matriculated legal students and must be based in the U.S. for the entire duration of the internship.

The Team:

The ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project envisions a world that respects and supports each of us in making deeply personal decisions that determine the shape of our lives: with whom to form intimate relationships, and whether, when, and how to have children. In the world we see, we can all get the health care and other resources necessary to have a child, to prevent pregnancy, or to have an abortion—regardless of where we live, our income, race, age, gender identity, immigration status or whom we love.

For five decades, the ACLU has been a leader in the efforts to ensure that every person has access to affordable and stigma-free abortion care. Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, the ACLU has brought dozens of lawsuits seeking to preserve and expand access to abortion. Current cases include challenges to abortion bans and restrictions in states like Arizona, Georgia, and Missouri; challenges to policies that seek to prevent people from traveling to get an abortion; and cases using new state constitutional amendments to strike abortion restrictions and expand access. The ACLU is also a leader in efforts to preserve and expand access to medication abortion and brought the case that led to the FDA lifting rules that prevented people from receiving their medication through the mail.

In the current environment, the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project is challenging efforts by the Trump Administration to decimate our nation’s family planning program, and is preparing to challenge further efforts by the Trump Administration to restrict access to abortion, including efforts to restrict access to medication abortion, prevent people from obtaining emergency abortions, and misapply federal laws to shut down abortion care.

The Reproductive Freedom Project’s work extends beyond abortion and contraception. For example, the ACLU is currently litigating a case in Alabama – a state with woefully insufficient maternity care and appallingly high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality – which enabled the first free standing birth centers to obtain licenses and begin serving patients.

The ACLU is unique among reproductive rights organizations in that it works with the ACLU’s nationwide network of state affiliates as well as attorneys and advocates in the organization who specialize in areas such as LGBT rights, criminal defense, immigrants’ rights, racial justice, disability rights, and freedom of speech and religion.

What You’ll Do:

 As an intern, you will join these critical case teams. For example, you may join teams using novel state constitutional provisions to strike down laws that prohibit and restrict access to abortion.  You may help combat efforts to decimate access to medication abortion, which today counts for 2/3 of abortions in the country.  You may work on novel cases to expand birth equity. 

Your Day to Day:

Interns do critical work to support our litigation and will gain valuable experience by working with the team on a wide variety of issues. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following: 

• Conducting legal research and analysis 
• Aiding in drafting memoranda, motions, declarations, and legal pleadings 
• Providing general assistance on active litigation, including cite-checking  
• Supporting development of new litigation projects 
• Additional responsibilities could include working on fact development, conducting background research, or tracking and analyzing bills

What You'll Bring:

The internship is open to law students who will have completed at least one year of law school before the internship commences. Interns should possess the following: 

• Excellent legal research and writing skills and the ability to conduct complex legal analysis
• Strong oral communications skills and the ability to explain complicated legal issues 
• The ability to balance multiple assignments, to communicate with colleagues, and to accept and incorporate feedback 
• A collaborative attitude – be a team player 
• Demonstrated commitment to public interest law, civil rights and liberties, and social justice; a demonstrated commitment to reproductive health rights and justice is a plus, but is not required

Future ACLU'ers Will:

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts

Internship Logistics

• Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of remote or hybrid intern positions. This internship can be remote or hybrid based in our New York office.
• Time Commitment: This internship is full-time (35 hrs/wk) for a duration of 10 consecutive weeks.
• Internship Duration: This internship has a start date of May 24 or June 7.
• Stipend: A stipend is available for those students who are lawfully authorized to work. Students who receive outside funding are eligible for a partial stipend to bring their total funding up to the level of the ACLU’s stipend amount for the summer. Legal interns receive a stipend amount of $24/hour (stipends are taxed)

Priority Application Deadline:

While there is a priority deadline, our project is committed to reviewing all applications on a rolling basis until the closing of posting.

Why the ACLU

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people. 

Our Commitment to Accessibility, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.  

With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.  

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please complete the Accommodation Request Form

If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

In order to be considered for this position, all candidates must formally submit an application. The ACLU does not accept unsolicited calls or emails from candidates regarding their application status.

ACLU’s internship program is supported in part by the Arnie Miller Fund for the Next Generation: The Arnie Miller Fund For The Next Generation | American Civil Liberties Union.