Project Description: In spring 2009, the Leitner Clinic partnered with the  American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Dakota on a project that  assessed the level of reproductive health care that is currently provided to American Indians in South Dakota through the Indian Health Services. The semester-long project focused on female reproductive health as it is  provided both at reservation Indian Health Service clinics and hospitals and at urban clinics and hospitals. The project comprised of both research and analysis of the legal and administrative framework within reproductive health services. The project also included an onsite outreach program to gather stories and other information on reproductive healthcare from  American Indian women. The Leitner team consisted of Fordham Law students Carolyn Kim (`09), Vanessa Nadal (`10), and Mark Son (`10) and was co-supervised by Prof. Chi Mgbako and Kristina Baehr,  Yale/Bernstein Fellow.

Partner Organization: The ACLU of South Dakota seeks to advance constitutional protections through work on criminal justice reform, prisoner rights, the protection of freedom of speech and other important and fundamental rights granted to  all people. The ACLU of South Dakota carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local  level and through public  education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights mean for citizens in South Dakota.

 Description of Fieldwork: In March 2009, the Leitner Clinic conducted face-to-face interviews with 59 American Indian women ranging in age from 21 to 62 years in South Dakota. The team interviewed women on the Sisseton-Wahpeton and  Cheyenne River Reservations  and in Rapid City, South Dakota.  These three focus sites  represent distinct communities within the Indian Health Services (IHS) Aberdeen Area.

Project Outcome: The ACLU of South Dakota used the Leitner Clinic's findings as the basis for litigation concerning reproductive health rights on Native American reservations.