Last week, the Center for Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy (CRHLP), in partnership with the Mother Infant Cash Coalition, hosted a webinar, Unconditional Cash Transfers: A Growing Strategy for Reproductive Justice. During the moderated discussion, expert panelists from organizations such as Abundant Birth Project, Philly Joy Bank, NCJW|LA, Rx Kids, and The Bridge Project shared crucial insights on how unconditional cash programs are advancing both economic and reproductive justice for pregnant people and new parents. If you missed the event, the full recording of the webinar is available here.   

We also highlighted our new policy brief that expands on these conversations and offers an in-depth look at these transformative initiatives: Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCTs) for Pregnant and Newly Parenting People.  

This brief covers the profound impact UCT programs are having on maternal health, family well-being, and reproductive autonomy, particularly for Black, Indigenous, Latina, and low-income parents.  You can access the full brief here. 

This week, we spoke with CRHLP’s Legal Fellow and co-author of the brief, Sofia Espinoza,  to dive deeper into the growing importance of UCTs in reproductive justice and how this approach is helping to reshape the landscape for those most in need.

Interviewee:  Sofia Espinoza, CRHLP Legal Fellow

Interviewer: Kelsey Padilla, Program & Communication Coordinator

Q:  The brief highlights how UCTs address economic instability. How do these programs directly support reproductive autonomy and maternal health?

A: UCTs are uniquely positioned to support reproductive autonomy because they provide some relief from the financial barriers that often factor into one’s choice to become a parent. Parenting is expensive and the costs associated with raising a child can often play a role in an individual’s decision to start a family. UCTs offer funds at a critical stage of parenting that give pregnant and newly parenting people the bandwidth to make decisions about their family unit based on what they truly want and not based on their economic status.

Research on UCT programs is ongoing, but the data so far shows that access to UCTs can positively impact infant health in numerous ways, and improve parent mental health, reduce maternal smoking, reduce stress levels, increase health care utilization, improve housing security, improve food security, and help families afford childcare, buy household essentials, pay down debt and begin to save. One study showed that access to UCTs resulted in less depression and anxiety. These findings illustrate that the increased financial freedom that UCTs can provide can directly impact maternal health for the better. 

Q: The webinar touched on the importance of intersectionality. How do these cash transfer programs ensure they address the needs of diverse communities with different lived experiences?

A: One of the huge benefits of unconditional cash is just that – it is unconditional, meaning that each participant has the ability to tailor how they use the funds to match their unique needs. UCT programs do not attempt to predict or dictate the needs of their participants but instead offer no-strings-attached cash that participants can use however they choose. We know that the experiences of pregnant and newly parenting people can vary greatly based on race, sexual orientation, immigration status, contact with the criminal justice system, and more. UCTs ensure that each participant can use the cash they receive in ways that are most impactful for them and their specific circumstances.

Q: Looking forward, what is one thing that gives you hope for the future of UCT programs and their potential to create systemic change in reproductive justice?

A: State and local UCT programs are an important antidote to the uncertainty we are facing regarding the potential funding that our federal government can provide in the future. UCT programs make me hopeful that we as a society can reimagine how wealth is distributed and governments more effectively meet people’s needs. UCTS also serve as an example of how grassroots organizing and policymaking can positively address reproductive justice, family separation, income inequality, and maternal and infant mortality. Creative policies are needed now more than ever, and UCTs offer a path towards systemic change in spite of the current political climate.

Credit: The Daily Bruin, pictured left to right: Diana Kasdan, Mary Bonauto, Leila Abolfazli, Karli Eisenberg, Professor Khiara M. Bridges 

The Daily Bruin recently reported on an expert legal panel CRHLP hosted at UCLA Law School, Resistance and Reimagining: Perspectives on Reproductive and Gender Justice from the Academy, Advocacy, and Public Service. The article highlights the panel's discussion of the escalating and intertwined threats to reproductive and gender justice and shares reflections from attendees on both the legal attacks and the resistance efforts at the federal and state levels.  

If you missed the event, the recording is now available for viewing here. 

Photo Credit: Patricia Lim/ KUT News

Reproductive rights advocates are raising concerns over a growing proliferation of proposed legislation that aims to punish pregnant people directly for seeking or having abortions.  Until now, almost all criminal bans on abortion have been aimed at health care professionals who provide abortion care, not the patients themselves. But in at least ten states, bills now have been introduced that would authorize law enforcement officials to charge people who seek abortions with homicide. These bills have references to fetuses as “preborn children” and “unborn children” and propose removing legal protections for pregnant people seeking abortions. While similar bills have been introduced over the years and usually fail to gain traction in state legislatures, experts warn that their increasing frequency signals a dangerous shift in anti-abortion strategy. As Mary Ziegler, professor of law at University of California Davis warns, “I think [these bills are] more likely to pass now than they were in previous years, and the fact that they keep coming back is significant.” 

Photo credit: Arvin Temkar / Abaca Press / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Reuters file

A Georgia woman was arrested this week after she suffered a miscarriage and was found bleeding and unconscious by emergency responders. Following witness allegations that she had disposed of her fetus, and despite acknowledging that she suffered a miscarriage, officials decided to charge the woman with concealing the death of another person and abandoning a dead body. Similar to other recent charges against women for pregnancy losses, the arrest and charges increase growing concerns about the impact of abortion bans on miscarriage management and use of state police authority to further criminalize, rather than prioritize medical care and other supports, for pregnant people. 

Photo credit: Sergio Flores/Getty Images

Maria Margarita Rojas, a Houston-area midwife, was arrested and charged this month with performing unlawful abortions and practicing medicine without a license. This marks the first criminal case against a healthcare provider under Texas's near-total abortion ban following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Rojas ran Clínicas Latinoamericanas, a group of low-cost clinics serving northwest Houston’s Spanish-speaking community, which were shut down after Paxton's office filed for a temporary restraining order. Along with Rojas, two other clinic employees were arrested. The charges against Rojas who has been a licensed midwife since 2018, do not include allegations that she harmed any patients and, according to news reports, the state’s investigation was not spurred by complaints from patients, but cites an anonymous tip.  This follows a pattern of state investigations and lawsuits against people believed to have provided or accessed abortion based on complaints from third parties.  

Photo credit: Sergio Flores/Getty Images

A New York county clerk has blocked Texas from filing a legal action to enforce a default judgment against a New York doctor accused of violating Texas’s abortion ban by prescribing abortion pills to a patient in Texas. This decision is significant because it marks the first time a state court official has used New York’s shield law to protect an abortion provider from another state’s legal judgment. The law, designed to protect abortion providers and patients in New York for actions legal in New York, prevents officials (including courts) from participating in anti-abortion state efforts to investigate or punish New York-based providers providing care legal in New York. This development is part of a growing legal conflict between states with abortion bans, like Texas, and states with shield laws, such as New York, that protect providers.  

To learn more about shield laws, visit our Shield Laws for Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care: A State Law Guide, which provides analysis and information about each state's shield laws. 

With so much going on in the world of reproductive health, law, and policy, every week we'll share articles, books, and media you might have missed. 

Thousands of Families Experience Stillbirth. Three Moms Tell Their Stories in a New Documentary. 

‘Medina v. Planned Parenthood’ Is One of the Term’s Most Consequential SCOTUS Cases 

Domestic Violence and Maternal Mortality Are Rising. The NIH Just Defunded a Project to Study Both. 

For people with higher body weights, abortions can be more costly or out of reach 

Republican Abortion Laws Are ‘Torturing Women.’ Can the GOP Fix Its Own Crisis? 

Reimagining the future of reproductive health, law, and policy.

UCLA Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy is a think tank and research center created to develop long-term, lasting solutions that advance all aspects of reproductive justice, and address the current national crisis of abortion access.