Featured on feministing.com blog, to all law students – there is an opportunity to practice your research and writing skills, and to make a little cash while you are at it! How about a fantastic reproductive justice writing contest? This contest is hosted by the National Advocates for Pregnant Women (see original post here). The cash prizes are not bad at all: $1,000 for first prize, $500 and $250 for the runners up. The deadline for submission is May 31, 2009.

Contest I 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).

Contest II asks students to develop legal theories that can be used to challenge policies banning pregnant women from having a vaginal birth after a prior Cesarean section (VBAC). This topic will encourage students to address a growing problem that has received very little attention from the feminist legal community both in academia and within the leading women’s rights legal advocacy organizations.