National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice

The Latina Institute changed its name from “the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health” to the “National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice” in 2019. ² The Latina Institute has state networks in Florida, New York, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. ²

Legislative Advocacy

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice advocates for public policy that makes it easier to have an abortion. It opposes abortion regulations and the Hyde Amendment, which blocks federal funds from being used to pay for abortions with the exceptions for rape, incest or if the pregnancy can endanger the woman’s life. ¹³

It supports pro-abortion legislation like the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act, Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA), Virginia’s Reproductive Health and Protection Act (RHPA) and the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). Latina Institute advocates for immigrants to have as much access to abortion and contraceptive services as possible, supporting legislation that works toward this such as the HEAL for Immigrant Families Act and the DREAM Act. It also supports granting driver’s licenses and municipal identification cards to illegal immigrants. It also advocates for immigrants held in detention centers to have access to abortion and contraceptive services.⁴

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice opposes conscience exemptions from to providing abortion and contraception, parental notification laws, state-mandated restrictions on abortion, and crisis pregnancy centers, which it calls “fake clinics that often target communities of color.” ¹

Legal Advocacy

The Latina Institute has been involved in various court cases over the course of its history dealing with reproductive issues. One of these cases is Yanira Yesenia Oldaker v. Thomas P. Giles, where the organization, alongside the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Sister Love. Inc, and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs who were immigrants detained by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Irwin Country Detention Center in Georgia. These plaintiffs accused Giles, a physician, of abusing them under the guise of gynecological procedure.⁵

Latina Institute filed an amicus brief alongside the NAPAWF, the NWLC, Sister Love Inc. and 55 other organizations with the U.S Courts of Appeals for the First and Ninth Circuit in opposition to two Trump administration rules that would allow any employer or university claiming a religious or moral objection to be exempt from providing insurance coverage of birth control for their students, employees, and their dependents.⁶

On August 31, 2018, the Latina Institute, along with In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Agenda, NAPAWF and 30 other abortion advocacy organizations, sent a letter to U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and other members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary asking them to oppose the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court because of his opinions of the court cases Garza v. Hargan, Azar v. Garza, Fogo De Chao v. Department of Homeland Security, and Agri Processor Company v. National Labor Relations Board.⁷

Partnerships and Funding

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice had its total revenue increase from $3.66 million in 2018 to $7.9 million in 2019, the latest year they had filed a financial report as of Dec. 31, 2022. ⁸ The extra revenue was due to an increase in contributions and grants. The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice increased its total lobbying expenditures from $56,376 in 2018 to $308,380 in 2019. ⁹

The Latina Institute is a member All Above All, a coalition of organizations and individuals¹⁰ that is a project of the left-of-center funding entity called the New Venture Fund.¹¹ One of its primary purposes is to advocate at the federal and state level to overturn the Hyde Amendment, a legislative provision passed by Congress in 1976 that forbids the use of federal funds to pay for abortions except in extreme circumstances. The other purpose of this organization is to work towards passing the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) into law.¹²

The Latina Institute received a grant for $175,000 on November 16, 2009, for a 20-month term from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,¹³ one of the wealthiest and most generous grantmaking foundations in the world, granting more than $3.5 billion in the year 2014.¹⁴ The Latina Institute also received a grant for $50,000 from the Prospect Hill Foundation,¹⁵ a left-of-center organization that issues grants to pro-abortion, criminal justice reform, anti-nuclear proliferation, environmentalist, and pro-immigration groups.¹⁶

Social Media Posts

On Dec. 22, 2022, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice posted on its Facebook account, “Abortion empowers us to make the best choices about our bodies, our health and our lives.” It called access to abortion “a gift.” ¹⁷ On that same day, it posted on Facebook, “There is no shame in being HAPPY about your abortion.” ¹⁸

On Dec. 20, 2022, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice called anti-abortion policies “racist, xenophobic and classist.” ¹⁹

Leadership

Guadalupe Rodriguez started as executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice in April 2021. ²⁰ She previously worked as the vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in California. ²⁰ Rodriguez has said she had firsthand experience of alleged systemic racist and capitalist oppression. ²¹

Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas was named the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice executive director in 2011 and held the post until 2021. ²² Gonzalez-Rojas has served as a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly since 2021 representing a New York City district. ²³

Gloria Montano Greene is the board chair of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. ²⁰