Faye Wattleton

Last updated

Faye Wattleton
Faye Wattleton 2009.jpg
2009
Born
Alyce Faye Wattleton

(1943-07-08) 8 July 1943 (age 80)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Education Ohio State University (BA)
Columbia University (MS)
Occupation(s) Feminist activist
Author and news commentator
Registered nurse
Website Official website OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Faye Wattleton (born Alyce Faye Wattleton; 8 July 1943) is an American reproductive rights activist who was the first African American and the youngest president ever elected of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the first woman since Margaret Sanger to hold the position. She is currently Co-founder & Director at EeroQ, a quantum computing company. [1] [2] [3] She is best known for her contributions to family planning and reproductive health, and the reproductive rights movement.

Contents

Early life and childhood

Wattleton was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1943, the only child of a construction worker father [4] and a mother who was a seamstress and a Church of God minister. [5] During her childhood, her mother's calling meant that the family traveled frequently, and Wattleton saw the emotional effect her mother's preaching had on congregation. For eight years Wattleton stayed with family members and friends while her parents traveled for work. [6] Although her mother never approved of her work in reproductive rights, [7] Wattleton considers the principle of nonjudgment espoused by the faith of her upbringing to have had a deep impact on her future work in family planning. [8]

Education and early career

Faye Wattleton attended Ohio State University at the age of 16. She was awarded a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1964, and went on to teach at a nursing school in Dayton, Ohio for two years. [9] While in nursing school, Wattleton worked at the Children's Hospital in Columbus. There she cared for children who were abused, neglected, and sick with diseases. [6]

Wattleton attended Columbia University in New York for post-graduate work on a full scholarship. [10] Due to her interest in children born with drug addictions inherited from their using mothers, Wattleton did her master's thesis on phototoelectrophoresis, [11] the medical term for the test used to screen pregnant mothers for drug use so that a baby can be treated for withdrawal immediately. [11] Wattleton graduated from Columbia with her Master's of Science degree in maternal and infant care, with certification as a nurse-midwife, in 1967. [12]

While working toward her master's degree, she interned at a hospital in Harlem. [10] There, Wattleton saw female patients with life-threatening side effects of unsafe abortions. [9] During her time at the hospital in Harlem she learned about many aspects of unwanted pregnancy. [11] Approximately 6,500 women were admitted for complications from incomplete abortions during her time there. [6] After graduating from Columbia, Wattleton accepted a position as deputy chief of the Dayton Ohio Health Department's visiting nurse association's maternal and child health programs. [11] For two years she also served as the nursing instructor at the Miami Valley Hospital School of Nursing in Dayton [10]

While working in Dayton facilities, Wattleton kept track of the numbers of mothers receiving prenatal care and realized that about 30 percent of them received none. [11] Based on her view of neighborhood health clinics helping pregnant women in New York, Wattleton pushed for a similar system in Dayton. [11] Her efforts were rewarded with the establishment of one such clinic where Wattleton and another nurse would treat patients for minor issues and refer them to participating area hospitals for major issues and for childbirth. [11]

In Wattleton's role as midwife and deputy of visiting nurses in the Dayton Health Department, she saw many troubled women. The youngest girl that Wattleton cared for in her clinic was 13 years old. [11] During her time in this position Wattleton thought about the societal consequences that pregnancy had on young mothers. The issue of teenage pregnancy troubled Wattleton and she began to work for women's reproductive rights. [11] She joined the board of the local Planned Parenthood and shortly after, in 1970, Wattleton became the president of the Planned Parenthood of Dayton. [13] The legal status of abortion was now on the political agenda. Wattleton accomplished a major victory for Dayton's Planned Parenthood when she began a successful initiative to provide teenagers with contraceptives without their parent's consent. [11] In 1978, Faye Wattleton was appointed President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America by its board, making her the first African American woman to lead the organization. [6]

Leadership of Planned Parenthood

Under her presidency at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, from 1978 to 1992, the organization increased its range of health-care services and became more politically engaged. [13] By the time she left the organization, it had more than 170 affiliates in 49 states and Washington, D.C., and operated more than 800 health centers. [8] [ failed verification ] Faye Wattleton had two major goals upon becoming president: (1) improve women's reproductive health, and, (2) promote gender equality. Wattleton wanted to expand the focus of Planned Parenthood to emphasize abortion rights. [6] Anticipating that the 1980s would bring many political challenges, Wattleton wanted the organization to be able to respond effectively to the new environment created by the election of Ronald Reagan and the rise of the Religious Right. Wattleton was among those spearheaded advocacy for the pro-choice movement during the decade. [6] However, the movement faced fierce opposition. Planned Parenthood clinics across the country experienced shootings, bombings, fires, and some employees were killed or injured. [6] As Wattleton's time at Planned Parenthood progressed, there was a major decision by the Supreme Court, Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989), in which the court held that states may withhold the use of public funds for abortions. [6] At the same time, Wattleton was disappointed that about half of Planned Parenthood affiliates did not offer abortions. [6] This, as well as other personal interests, led to her resignation as president in February 1992. [6]

Supreme Court rulings on abortion during Wattleton's advocacy

Faye Wattleton worked for reproductive rights at a time in America where the political tension surrounding the issue was mounting. In January 1973, the Court issued Roe v. Wade ruling that women had the right under the constitution to terminate their pregnancies. [14] This was momentous and allowed for the creation of clinics where abortions could take place to rise in communities around the country. Three years later in Planned Parenthood v. Danforth , the Supreme Court rejected a lower court ruling that had upheld a Missouri law requiring, among other things, the consent of a women's husband for an abortion. [14] In 1980, Harris v. McRae upheld the Hyde Amendment, ruling that patients receiving Medicaid could only receive Medicaid funds for an abortion if the pregnancy endangered their life. There weren't many cases fought on the U.S. Supreme Court level in the 1980s until Webster v. Reproductive Health Services in 1989, mentioned above, in which the Court ruled that a state could withhold the use of public funds and public facilities for abortions unless the woman's life was in danger. [14] In Hodgson v. Minnesota (1990), the Court ruled that a state's parental notification requirement for minors seeking an abortion must be accompanied by a "judicial bypass" allowing minors to apply for an exemption in the courts. [14] In Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the Supreme Court ruled that states can make laws concerning certain requirements to get an abortion including waiting periods and counseling, as long as it does not enact an undue burden on the mother to receive an abortion. [14]

Post Planned Parenthood career

After leaving Planned Parenthood, Wattleton hosted a Chicago-based television talk show from 1992 to 1995. [4] After the show ended, Wattleton began to give lectures across the country [6] and created a non-profit think tank called the Center for Gender Equality, renamed the Center for the Advancement of Women in 2002. [15] The purpose of this center was to "promote strategies for dismantling the obstacles that impede full equality for women". [15] and to start a national conversation about the economic, political and educational aspects of women's everyday lives. The center closed in 2010 due to fundraising difficulties. [16] In 2017, Wattleton Co-Founded EeroQ Quantum Computing with Nick Farina and Michigan State Professor Johannes Pollanen. [17]

Personal life

In 1970, Faye Wattleton's Parents moved to Texas where her mother preached at a small congregation outside of Houston. [11] Wattleton was experiencing immense change in her occupational path as director of Planned Parenthood, Miami Valley when her father got lung cancer. By the time that she found out, he only had six months to live. [11] He died that same year.

Also during this time, Wattleton's mother was struggling with the activism of her daughter. Her mother often told her that she was killing children and going against "God's word". [11] Wattleton struggled to balance her faith and her activism. Her church stood at odds with pro-choice ideals. This would be a barrier in the relationship Wattleton held with her mother. [11]

Faye Wattleton met her future husband, Franklin Gordon, in 1972. [11] He was a jazz musician whom she had met at a conference sponsored by the Junior League. [11] After the conference they parted, but Franklin wrote and mailed Faye poems. [11] Wanting to have children, Wattleton married Gordon at the end of August in 1972. [11] In January 1975, she learned that she was pregnant. [11] She worked during her pregnancy by running for President of the National Executive Directors Council (NEDC) of Planned Parenthood's midwestern regional affiliates. On October 20, 1975, Wattleton gave birth to her daughter, Felicia Megan Gordon. [11] Wattleton and Gordon divorced in 1981. [18]

Books and awards

In 1986, the American Humanist Association named her Humanist of the Year. [19]

In 1992, Wattleton received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. [20] [21]

She was a 1993 inductee into the National Women's Hall of Fame. [22]

In 1996, she published her autobiography, Life on the Line. Wattleton wanted to show people why she became an advocate for reproductive health. The book highlights important moments in her career. [6]

Also in 1996, she received the Margaret Sanger Woman of Valor Award [20]

She contributed the piece "Unfinished Agenda: Reproductive Rights" to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium , edited by Robin Morgan. [23]

In 2004, Wattleton won the Fries Prize for Improving Health.

Other awards that she received include: American Public Health Association's Award of Excellence; the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Humanitarian Award; Independent Sector's John Gardner Award; and the Women's Honors in Public Service from the American Nurses Association. [15]

Wattleton served on the Boards for Estée Lauder Companies, Quidel Corporation, Bio-Technology General, Yellowbox.com, Empire Blue Cross & Blue Shield, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Institute for International Education and Jazz at Lincoln Center. [15]

Wattleton has also received 15 honorary doctoral degrees. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States abortion-rights movement</span> Support for womens right to elective abortion

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This is a timeline of reproductive rights legislation, a chronological list of laws and legal decisions affecting human reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are a sub-set of human rights pertaining to issues of reproduction and reproductive health. These rights may include some or all of the following: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. Reproductive rights may also include the right to receive education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, and freedom from coerced sterilization, abortion, and contraception, and protection from practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Sanger Awards</span>

The Margaret Sanger Award was an honor awarded annually by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1966 to 2015. Created to honor the legacy of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, it is the Federation's highest honor. It is given to individuals to recognize excellence and leadership in the reproductive health and rights movement. Although it is identified as an annual award, it hasn't been given out and since 2015.

Abortion in Missouri is illegal, with abortions only being legal in cases of medical emergency and several additional laws making access to abortion services difficult. In 2014, a poll by the Pew Research Center found that 52% of Missouri adults said that abortion should be legal vs. 46% that believe it should be illegal in all or most cases. According to a 2014 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) study, 51% of white women in the state believed that abortion is legal in all or most cases.

Abortion in Arizona is legal for up to 15 weeks gestation.

Abortion in Colorado is legal at all stages of pregnancy. It is one of seven states without any term restrictions as to when a pregnancy can be terminated.

Abortion in Connecticut is legal up to the point of fetal viability, or after that if necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant woman. A poll by the Pew Research Center found that 67 percent of adults in the state believed that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Abortions took place early in the state's history. People at that time talked about abortions using euphemisms. The death of Sarah Grosvenor following unsuccessful abortion resulted in a prosecution in colonial Connecticut. Connecticut became the first state to criminalize abortion after codifying its common law in 1821. Later, such laws were justified as trying to protect the life of the women from bad actors providing unsafe abortion services. The state was one of ten states in 2007 to have a customary informed consent provision for abortions. In 1965, the US Supreme Court heard the case of Griswold v. Connecticut, striking down laws that banned the sale, use of and prescription of contraceptives, even for married couples. The Court's later decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester. In 1990, state law was amended to read, "the decision to terminate a pregnancy prior to the viability of the fetus shall be solely that of the pregnant woman in consultation with her physician", the first such law in state codifying the Court's holding in Roe, as it would be later modified by Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Abortion in Michigan is legal throughout all stages of pregnancy. A state constitutional amendment to explicitly guarantee abortion rights was placed on the ballot in 2022 as Michigan Proposal 22–3; it passed with 57 percent of the vote, adding the right to abortion and contraceptive use to the Michigan Constitution. The amendment largely prevents the regulation of abortion before fetal viability, unless said regulations are to protect the individual seeking an abortion, and it also makes it unconstitutional to make laws restricting abortions which would protect the life and health, physical and/or mental, of the pregnant individual seeking abortion.

Abortion in New Jersey is legal at all stages of pregnancy. Abortion related laws were drafted by the legislature by the end of the 1900s. These laws would be addressed in court during the 1800s as they related to application in prosecutions of women for having abortions. During the 1940s, hospitals created committees to approve abortion requests with the goal of trying to reduce the number of abortions performed at them. Currently, there are no required waiting times and parental consent is not required.

Abortion in Oregon is legal at all stages of pregnancy.

Abortion in Pennsylvania is legal up to the 24th week of pregnancy. 51% of Pennsylvania adults said in a 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal and 44% said it should be illegal in all or most cases.

Abortion in Vermont is legal in all stages of pregnancy. A 2014 Pew Research Center poll showed 70% of adults in the state believed abortion should be legal in most or all cases, the second highest percentage in the country. The state funds abortions deemed medically necessary for low-income women via Medicaid.

Abortion in Washington is explicitly legal up to the point of fetal viability, although there is no law prohibiting it after that point. 60% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Abortion in California is legal up to the point of fetal viability. An abortion ban was in place by 1900, and by 1950, it was a criminal offense for a woman to have an abortion. In 1962, the American Law Institute published their model penal code as it applied to abortions, with three circumstances where they believed a physician could justifiably perform an abortion, and California adopted a version of this code. In 2002, California passed a law guaranteeing women the right to have an abortion "prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman." In 2022, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 1, which amended the Constitution of California to explicitly protect the right to abortion and contraception by a margin of 33.76%.

Abortion in New Hampshire is legal up to the 24th week of pregnancy as of January 1, 2022, when a new law went into effect. Prior to this, the gestational limit was unclear. Abortion was criminalized in the state by 1900. In June 2003, the state passed a parental notification law, repealing it four years later before passing a new one in 2011. New Hampshire then passed a law in 2012 which required minors to wait 48 hours after requesting an abortion but no longer required parental consent. New Hampshire law regarding abortion has been heard before the US Supreme Court in the case Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in 2006. The number of abortion clinics in New Hampshire has declined over the years, with 18 in 1982, 16 in 1992 and four in 2014. In 2010, there were three publicly funded abortions in the state; all three were federally funded. There are both active abortion rights and anti-abortion rights activists in the state.

Abortion in New Mexico is legal at all stages of pregnancy. The number of abortion clinics in New Mexico has declined over the years, with 26 in 1982, 20 in 1992 and 11 in 2014. There were 4,500 legal abortions in 2014. There were 7 facilities providing abortion in New Mexico in 2017, and 6 of those were clinics. In 2017, 91% of New Mexico counties had no clinics that provided abortions, and 48% of New Mexico women lived in those counties.

Abortion in Wyoming is currently legal due to a temporary court injunction.

References

  1. ↑ "History & Successes". Planned Parenthood. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Bracks, Lean'tin L. (2012). African American Almanac. Detroit, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. p.  59. ISBN   9781578593231.
  3. ↑ "NCOA Welcomes New Chair-Elect Faye Wattleton". NCOA. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Alyce Faye Wattleton Biography". The HistoryMakers. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Faye Wattleton". Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Encyclopedia of World Biography: Faye Wattleton. 2004. pp. 405–407. ISBN   9780787691240.
  7. ↑ Green, Jesse. "What I've Learned ... From My Daughter". Oprah.com. O, the Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  8. 1 2 Port, Rachel (11 February 2013). "A Conversation With Faye Wattleton: Part 2, Belief and Mission". Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  9. 1 2 Middleton, Britt (8 July 2013). "This Day in Black History: July 8, 1943". BET. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Bracks, Lean'tin (2012). African American Almunac: 400 years of triumph courage and excellence . Visible Ink Press. p. 559. ISBN   9781578593231.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Faye., Wattleton (1996). Life on the line (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN   0345392655. OCLC   35652753.
  12. ↑ Jone Johnson Lewis. "Faye Wattleton". About.com Women's History. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  13. 1 2 Boman, John, ed. (2001). "Faye Wattleton (1943- )". Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography . Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521402583.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "A History of Key Abortion Rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Faye Wattleton Biographical Sketch". www.ncccusa.org. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  16. ↑ "Collection: Center for the Advancement of Women records | Smith College Finding Aids". findingaids.smith.edu. Retrieved 7 November 2021. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 3.0 license.
  17. ↑ "Quantum Computing Startup | Quantum Computing Report". 5 September 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  18. ↑ Lisa, Schwartzman (1 November 1996). "Lie on the line". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  19. ↑ "Humanists of the Year". American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2012. Faye Wattleton - 1986
  20. 1 2 3 "Faye Wattleton" . Baker & Taylor Author Biographies. 2 January 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "Jefferson Awards FoundationNational - Jefferson Awards Foundation". Jefferson Awards Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  22. ↑ "Women's Issues". The Fischer Ross Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  23. ↑ "Library Resource Finder: Table of Contents for: Sisterhood is forever : the women's anth". Vufind.carli.illinois.edu. Retrieved 15 October 2015.

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