NAWL Joins Bar Organizations' Statement in Support of the Rule of Law

March 26, 2025

Bar Organizations’ Statement in Support of the Rule of Law

CHICAGO, March 26, 2025 — We the undersigned bar organizations stand together with and in support of the American Bar Association to defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession.

In particular, as outlined by the ABA:

We endorse the sentiments expressed by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in his 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, “[w]ithin the past year we have also seen the need for state and federal bar associations to come to the defense of a federal district judge whose decisions in a high-profile case prompted an elected official to call for her impeachment. Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed.”

We support the right of people to advance their interests in courts of law when they have been wronged. We reject the notion that the U.S. government can punish lawyers and law firms who represent certain clients or punish judges who rule certain ways. We cannot accept government actions that seek to twist the scales of justice in this manner.

We reject efforts to undermine the courts and the profession. We will not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not. Words and actions matter. And the intimidating words and actions we have heard and seen must end. They are designed to cow our country’s judges, our country’s courts and our legal profession.

There are clear choices facing our profession. We can choose to remain silent and allow these acts to continue or we can stand for the rule of law and the values we hold dear. We call upon the entire profession, including lawyers in private practice from Main Street to Wall Street, as well as those in corporations and who serve in elected positions, to speak out against intimidation.

If lawyers do not speak, who will speak for our judges? Who will protect our bedrock of justice? If we do not speak now, when will we speak? Now is the time. That is why we stand together with the ABA in support of the rule of law.

American Bar Association
Alameda County (California) Bar Association
Alexandria (Virginia) Bar Association
Allegheny County Bar Association (Pennsylvania)
Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
Bar Association of Erie County (New York)
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
Berks County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association
Boston Bar Association
Boulder County (Colorado) Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
Chicago Council of Lawyers
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Columbus (Ohio) Bar Association
Connecticut Bar Association
Contra Costa (California) County Bar Association
Detroit Bar Association and Foundation
Erie County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association
First Judicial District Bar Association (Colorado)
Hennepin County (Minnesota) Bar Association
Hispanic National Bar Association
Hudson County (New Jersey) Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Kansas Bar Association
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Foundation
Lawyers Club of San Diego
Long Beach (California) Bar Association
Louisville Bar Association
Maine State Bar Association
Middlesex County (New Jersey) Bar Association
Milwaukee Bar Association
Minnesota State Bar Association
Monroe County (New York) Bar Association
Nassau County (New York) Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Association of Women Lawyers
National Conference of Bar Presidents
National LGBTQ+ Bar Association
National Native American Bar Association
New Jersey Women Lawyers Association
New Mexico Black Lawyers Association
New York City Bar Association
New York County Lawyers Association
North County (California) Bar Association
Board of Governors of the Oregon State Bar
Passaic County (New Jersey) Bar Association
Philadelphia Bar Association
Queens County (New York) Bar Association
Ramsey County (Minnesota) Bar Association
San Diego County Bar Association
San Fernando Valley (California) Bar Association
Santa Clara County Bar Association (California)
South Asian Bar Association of North America
State Bar of New Mexico
Virgin Islands Bar Association
Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association
Worcester County (Massachusetts) Bar Association

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NAWL Responds to the Supreme Court Decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic

June 30, 2025

Last week, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic , ruling 6–3 that individual Medicaid beneficiaries cannot sue state officials to enforce the “free-choice-of-provider” provision of the Medicaid Act. The Court’s decision could pave the way for states to exclude providers like Planned Parenthood from Medicaid programs, even when doing so limits access to essential reproductive and preventive health care -- and even when the sole basis for doing so is for ideological reasons. This ruling marks a significant setback for reproductive justice and health equity. By narrowing the ability of individuals to challenge state actions that restrict access to care, the Court has further eroded the legal tools available to protect the rights of patients who rely on Medicaid to access fundamental healthcare, including preventative and general care and access to contraception. Marginalized communities will likely be disparately affected. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in a powerful dissent, emphasized the real-world consequences of the majority’s decision: “[T]oday’s decision is likely to result in tangible harm to real people. At a minimum, it will deprive Medicaid recipients in South Carolina of their only meaningful way of enforcing a right that Congress has expressly granted to them. And, more concretely, it will strip those South Carolinians—and countless other Medicaid recipients around the country—of a deeply personal freedom: the ‘ability to decide who treats us at our most vulnerable.’” NAWL is proud to have joined with the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia in filing an amicus brief which underscored the importance of preserving legal avenues for patients to challenge discriminatory and harmful state policies. NAWL stands in solidarity with Planned Parenthood, reproductive rights advocates, and the millions of individuals whose access to care is now at greater risk. We urge our members and allies to continue advocating for a legal system that upholds the rights, health, and dignity of all people—regardless of income, identity, or geography. --- NAWL will continue the conversation at the 2025 Annual Meeting . Hear about this Supreme Court term’s major decisions affecting NAWL’s mission from Arabella Babb Mansfield Award Recipients and co-hosts of the Strict Scrutiny podcast: Leah Litman, Professor of Law at University of Michigan Law School; Melissa Murray, Professor of Law at New York University School of Law; and Kate Shaw, Professor of Law at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Additionally, after a workshop screening of the film Zurawski v Texas , Cici Coquillette from the Center for Reproductive Rights and Cassie Ehrenberg from The Lawyering Project and Abortion Defense Network will specifically discuss the Medina decision.

NAWL Responds to the Supreme Court Decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti

June 24, 2025

Last week, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Skrmetti , which upholds a Tennessee law (SB1) banning gender-affirming medical care —such as puberty blockers and hormones— for transgender minors. In the 6–3 decision, the Court held that SB1 does not warrant heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause, despite its discriminatory targeting of transgender youth by explicitly permitting hormone treatments and gender-affirming care for youth who identify as cisgender, while denying the same care for youth who identify as trans. This ruling has the potential to reshape access to health care and marks a profound erosion of the Equal Protection clause as a tool for challenging laws that disproportionately affect women and other marginalized groups. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a searing dissent, laid bare the consequences of the Court’s refusal to confront the reality of this legislation: “[T]he majority refuses to call a spade a spade. Instead, it obfuscates a sex classification that is plain on the face of this statute, all to avoid the mere possibility that a different court could strike down SB1, or categorical healthcare bans like it. The Court's willingness to do so here does irrevocable damage to the Equal Protection Clause and invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight. It also authorizes, without second thought, untold harm to transgender children and the parents and families who love them. Because there is no constitutional justification for that result, I dissent.” As an organization committed to advancing gender equity under the law, NAWL stands with transgender individuals, families, advocates, and scholars who continue this long fight. The Court’s application of rational basis review to state laws targeting a specific “medical use” may also have far-reaching negative consequences on gender health equity more broadly, including access to reproductive care. NAWL calls on its members and allies to speak out, support impacted communities, and work toward a legal system rooted in dignity, equity, and justice for all. --- NAWL will continue the conversation at the 2025 Annual Meeting during the session, “ U.S. v. Skrmetti : The Future of Gender Equity in Healthcare,” featuring National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter and Executive Director of the Williams Institute Christy Mallory .

NAWL Joins Bar Organizations' Statement in Support of the Rule of Law

Bar Organizations’ Statement in Support of the Rule of Law

NAWL Responds to the Supreme Court Decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic

NAWL Responds to the Supreme Court Decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti

NAWL Joins Bar Associations' Amicus Brief in Support of Susman Godfrey LLP

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