The Women’s Law Project (WLP) is a left-of-center organization that uses litigation to challenge laws that regulate and limit abortions. ¹ The WLP has represented children under the age of 18 who seek to obtain an abortion over the objection of their parent, ² pushed for taxpayer-funded abortion in Pennsylvania, ³ and advocated for the removal of limitations on when and under what conditions an abortion can be performed. ¹ In addition, the WLP has opposed and lobbied against faith-based pregnancy centers that provide free-of-cost pregnancy tests and counseling services because of their refusal to provide abortions or refer patients to abortion clinics. ⁴

Finances

In 2020, Women’s Law Project received $1,596,945 in contributions, ⁵ $1,850,651 in total revenue, ⁶ incurred $1,502,704 in expenses, ⁶ and held $655,958 in net assets. ⁶

Abortion Policy

Expansion of Taxpayer Funded Healthcare

Under federal law, states are granted the authority to distribute Medicaid funds. ⁷ In 1982, the Pennsylvania legislature banned the use of Medicaid funds for abortions absent exceptions such as rape, incest, and the need to preserve the life of the mother. ⁷ In 2023, Women’s Law Project litigated  Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, a case where the organization sought to overturn the Medicaid abortion restriction before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. ³ In addition, WLP asked the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to declare that unlike the federal constitutional determination in Dobbs v. Jackson, where the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, the Pennsylvania state constitution provides a fundamental right to an abortion. ³

Opposition to Restrictions on Abortion

WLP has litigated numerous cases opposing the use of restrictions on abortion on constitutional grounds, including both direct litigation and amicus briefs. ¹ In Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016), a Supreme Court case on the legality of abortion regulations, the organization’s amicus brief was cited ¹ in support of the ultimate conclusion that requiring abortion clinic doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic, as well as for the clinic to meet the same surgical standards as an ordinary ambulatory surgical center (i.e. outpatient surgery), amounted to an undue and hence unlawful burden on access to abortion under Roe v. Wade. ⁸

Support for Judicial By-Pass of Parental Consent

Pennsylvania law requires that children obtain the consent of their parents before they undergo abortions. ⁹ The Women’s Law Center assists children under the age of 18 in obtaining abortions without the consent of their parents through judicial by-pass hearings. ² WLP provides free legal representation in such hearings, which are confidential and take place without the parent’s consent or knowledge, during which a judge can grant an order allowing the child to proceed with an abortion. ²

Opposition to Faith-Based Pregnancy Clinics

WLP has opposed and lobbied against public funding for faith-based pregnancy centers that provide free of cost pregnancy tests and counseling services because of their refusal to provide or refer patients to abortion clinics. ⁴ WLP refers to such organizations as “crisis centers,” states that public funds are “funneled” to such organizations, and claims that subsidies for such programs are a “misuse of public funds.” ⁴

Leadership

Amal Bass and Susan Frietsche are the interim co-directors of Women’s Law Project. ¹⁰ Prior to becoming the co-director of WLP Amal was a staff attorney and later director of policy and advocacy for the organization. ¹¹ Prior to joining WLP, Frietsche was the deputy director of the Pennsylvania ACLU and the organization’s state lobbyist. ¹²

1. “Abortion & Reproductive Health” Women’s Law Project.  https://www.womenslawproject.org/abortion-reproductive-health/
2. “Post-Roe Pennsylvania & Judicial Bypass: Obtaining an Abortion in Pennsylvania if You’re Under 18 Years Old” Women’s Law Project. April 26, 2023. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.womenslawproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Post-Roe-Judicial-Bypass-Guide-7-14-22.pdf
3. “Law360: The Pennsylvania Reproductive Rights Case to Watch as Dobbs Turns One” Women’s Law Project. June 28, 2023. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.womenslawproject.org/2023/06/28/law360-the-pennsylvania-reproductive-rights-case-to-watch-as-dobbs-turns-one/
4.  “Crisis Pregnancy Centers Research & Report” Women’s Law Project. https://www.womenslawproject.org/abortion-reproductive-health/crisis-pregnancy-centers-research-report/
5. ^[1] Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Women’s Law Project. Part I. Line 8. 2020.
6. ^[1] Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Women’s Law Project. Part I. Line 12. 2020.
7. “From 1985 to Now: Revisiting Abortion Funding in Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court” Shipman & Goodwin LLP. https://www.shipmangoodwin.com/insights/from-1985-to-now-revisiting-abortion-funding-in-pennsylvanias-supreme-court.html
8.  “Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt” Scotusblog. https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/whole-womans-health-v-cole/
9. “Post-Roe PA: Minors in Need of Abortion Have the Right to Judicial Bypass” Women’s Law Project. August 12, 2022. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.womenslawproject.org/2022/08/12/post-roe-pa-minors-in-need-of-abortion-have-the-right-to-judicial-bypass/
10.  “Staff” Women’s Law Project. https://www.womenslawproject.org/staff/
11. “Amal Bass” LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amal-bass-a0437312
12. ^[1] “Staff” Women’s Law Project. https://www.womenslawproject.org/staff/