Over the last five decades, scholars at Pregnancy Justice have documented over 2,200 cases of criminalized pregnancy in the United States. Criminalized pregnancy refers to circumstances in which individuals are arrested, prosecuted, or otherwise punished for behavior perceived as harmful to their own pregnancies. By dismantling the federally protected right to abortion, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs (2022) expanded opportunities for pregnancy to be criminalized; over 400 of the cases documented by scholars were initiated after Dobbs. Similarly, pregnancy-related deaths have grown substantially since the Dobbs decision, a trend increasingly attributed to restrictive abortion bans. In my home state of Texas, abortion is banned from conception except to save the pregnant patient’s life, and medical practitioners may be prosecuted or fined for providing abortion care. The combination is devastating, leaving physicians fearful of the consequences of delivering even life-saving abortions and putting those with pregnancy complications at serious risk. Both pregnancy criminalization and anti-abortion politics are inextricably connected to fetal rights, the legal establishment of which has increased in the last few decades and inherently conflicts with pregnant women’s rights. As a public interest attorney, I aspire to contribute to efforts that dismantle such gender- and pregnancy-based discrimination in the law. My goal is to be a legal advocate for those harmed by federal and state laws that increasingly attempt to diminish women’s bodily autonomy. This work is rooted in my greater commitment to Reproductive Justice, often defined as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” In college, I developed an interest in reproductive politics and the study of law through my combined studies in politics and women’s and gender studies. Following graduation, I interned with Gender Justice, where I worked alongside lawyers and political advocates committed to gender equity, gaining insight into the challenges of this work. Here, I had the opportunity to conduct community outreach for the organization and create educational materials, the most meaningful of which covered the harms of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). These facilities deceive women seeking prenatal or abortion care, presenting themselves as reproductive healthcare centers, when in fact, their main objective is to prevent pregnant individuals from accessing or choosing abortion services. CPCs are entirely legal, and there are currently thousands of them operating in the United States. As my understanding of reproductive politics and injustice grew, so too did my commitment to Reproductive Justice and becoming a legal advocate for gender equity. Over the summer, I connected with an advocacy group in Austin committed to supporting immigrants in central Texas. As the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant project grew increasingly violent, I sought involvement with groups protecting my immigrant neighbors. Witnessing children being torn away from their mothers and fathers, left to parent themselves, forced me to act; I found my commitment to Reproductive Justice to be inextricably connected to the protection of and movement for immigrant rights. Currently, as a group, we’re speaking out against the implementation of a 287(g) agreement in our county, which would require local law enforcement to divert our community resources towards federal immigration enforcement. More recently, I began volunteering for The Lilith Fund, an abortion fund in Texas. As a hotline volunteer, I connect clients with social services, mental resources, and even volunteer opportunities. Each experience I’ve had on this path, whether it be as a student in women’s and gender studies, a campus organizer, or investing in my community here in Texas, has only reaffirmed my dedication to pursuing a career in public interest law and gender equity.