Kate Michelman

Kate Michelman is the former President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, a position she held for nearly twenty years.

"Kate was a close advisor -- and remains a close friend -- to former President Bill Clinton. She has worked closely -- and her counsel has been sought by -- many of the most powerful leaders in America, from Senators to Cabinet Secretaries." 

"Early in her professional career, Michelman was a specialist in early childhood development, with a particular emphasis on developmentally disabled children. Building on her work with special-needs children in rural Pennsylvania on the edge of Appalachia, she developed a model multi-disciplinary diagnostic treatment program for developmentally disabled preschool children and their families that now serves as a model across the nation."

"Michelman, who first honed her organizing skills in the civil-rights movement, became concerned about reproductive freedom after her own humiliating experience with a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion in 1970, which required her to obtain the consent of the husband who had deserted their family as well as a hospital panel comprised entirely of men."

"Prior to joining NARAL Pro-Choice America in 1985, Michelman was executive director of Planned Parenthood in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she expanded the range of reproductive health services available in the area. She also trained medical students and residents in child development as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine."

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