Reproductive Health Grants

Call For Papers: Women's Bar Association of District of Columbia and the Washington College of Law 2010 Legal Essay Writing Competition

Invitation to Submit Essays in the Dedication to the Advancement of Women's Rights The Modern American (TMA) announces the American University Washington College of Law (WCL) essay competition, open to all full-time and part-time law students enrolled in and attending an accredited law school in the United States.

OVERVIEW:
The Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia (WBA) and WCL share an important history in advancing women in the law and women's rights. TMA celebrates this history by creating a writing competition that highlights the status and future of women's bodily freedom in American policy-making and jurisprudence.

Women's bodily freedom is an issue that has hung in the balance for a number of years. Yet new, controversial laws that criminalize pregnant women's behavior and girls' refusal to receive arguably harmful immunizations have put women's bodily freedom back into the forefront of the public's attention. What is the status of women's bodily freedom and what should women's rights advocates anticipate looking forward?

The winner of the competition will not only receive $1,000, but will also have the opportunity to publish his/her/zer essay in TMA.

PRIZES INCLUDE: $1000 and potential publication in TMA.

TOPIC:
The status and future of women's bodily freedom in American policy-making and jurisprudence.

DEADLINE: October 1st, 2010, at noon (Eastern Standard Time).

RULES AND REGULATIONS:
1. Any student regularly enrolled in and attending classes full-time or part-time at an accredited law school in the United States is eligible to enter. Submissions must be through email to: Email: tma@wcl.american.edu with one cover page that includes all personal information (name, address, phone number, email, law school, and essay title). Please indicate in the subject of your e-mail that you are submitting a paper for the WBA/WCL Writing Competition.

2. Papers must be the original, unpublished work of an individual student but may have been prepared as a course assignment. Some law school faculty guidance is permitted, but guidance by the competition judges is not permitted.

3. Papers must be typed, 20-30 pages in length, single- spaced, unjustified, Garamond font typeface with one- inch margins. Submissions should contain endnote citations, included in the paper's length. Endnotes should conform to the 18th edition of A Uniform System of Citation (The Bluebook). Most important, submissions MUST be within the subject matter described in the introduction above.

4. Papers will be evaluated by the following criteria: writing quality and clarity; the level of interest that a broad segment of the legal profession would have for the topic and content; analysis and reasoning; timeliness, originality and creativity; quality and use of research; and compliance with these rules.

5. Papers will be evaluated, and the prize will be awarded, at the discretion of a panel of scholars and attorneys who will have no knowledge of the author's name or law school.

6. The winner as well as all participants will be notifiedregarding the competition results by mail on October 21st, 2010.

7. Entries must be received no later than October 1st, 2010 at noon (Eastern Standard Time): Email: tma@wcl.american.edu

8. Entry grants TMA the right of first publication of the paper and the copyright if published, constitutes certification of the paper as an original unpublished and unplagiarized work, and is the author's agreement to hold TMA and its members harmless from, and to indemnify them for, any and all damages and costs relating to copyright infringement or plagiarism.

9. Please notify us at: Email: tma@wcl.american.edu if any of your contact information changes.

National Advocates for Pregnant Women Law Student Writing Competition 2010

Birthing Rights as a Matter of Gender Equality
This contest asks for a critical analysis of the absence of birthing rights issues from gender discrimination and feminist jurisprudence textbooks and curricula (in fact, none of the top three casebooks used in law school courses dedicated to gender and the law address the issue of childbirth or midwifery).

$1,000 FIRST PRIZE $500 AND $250 FOR RUNNERS-UP

Issues of concern to pregnant and birthing women have often been missing from discussion in law school gender discrimination and feminist jurisprudence courses and among reproductive rights activists. Thanks in large part to public education efforts by writers, filmmakers, and community activists, there is an unprecedented amount of attention and momentum surrounding the rights of pregnant and birthing women. To advance these efforts further, NAPW has developed its second annual writing contest. NAPW and numerous Co-Sponsors and Supporters hope that this contest will leverage the enthusiasm and creativity of a new generation of feminist legal scholars and spark
critical thinking about the need to address childbirth and birthing rights as constitutional and human rights issues.

BIRTHING RIGHTS AS A MATTER OF GENDER EQUALITY
This contest asks for a critical analysis of the absence of birthing rights issues from gender discrimination and feminist jurisprudence textbooks and curricula (in fact, none of the top three casebooks used in law school courses dedicated to gender and the law address the issue of childbirth or midwifery).

The submission deadline is December 15, 2010 Noon EST

The full writing prompt, more information about our co-sponsors and
supporters, and periodic updates are available online.

Please submit essays electronically as an attachment in .doc (Microsoft Word) format to writingcontest@advocatesforpregnantwomen.org.

Only current law students are eligible to enter. While students are encouraged to submit their essays for publication, essays that have already been published or accepted for publication in any form at the time of submission will not be considered. Winners will be notified as soon as possible. Response may be delayed due to volume of
entries.

Additional questions may be directed to writingcontest@advocatesforpregnantwomen.org.