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Biography of Faye WattletonName: Faye WattletonBirth Date: July 8, 1943 Death Date: N/A Place of Birth: St. Louis, Missouri, United States Nationality: American Gender: Female Occupations: women's rights activist, administrator, nurse Faye Wattleton African American activist Faye Wattleton (born 1943) has dedicated her life to preserving and protecting the rights of women, first as an advocate for reproductive self-determination and later as a catalyst for gender equality.Other than securing the right to vote, one of, if not the most important right women have won in the twentieth century, is the right to obtain a safe and legal abortion. During her fourteen-year tenure as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), Wattleton brought the nation's oldest and largest voluntary reproductive health organization to the forefront of the battle to preserve women's right to reproductive self-determination.As the first African American and the first woman to lead Planned Parenthood since its founder Margaret Sanger, Wattleton expanded the organization's focus on contraception and reproductive education to include a strong advocacy position for abortion rights. This stance placed both Wattleton and Planned Parenthood at the …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…speaks directly to Wattleton's belief stating that "sustaining change is often a more subtle and complex challenge than the task of creating change." To this, according to the Ohio State University College of Nursing Magazine, she brings the values that have propelled her through life--"respect for others, individual responsibility, unflagging determination, and faith in God." Her memoirs provide a glimpse back, as well as the path ahead, "I have never been able to accept the notion that there are some things I cannot do, some things I cannot change. I have always told myself that it is all just a matter of figuring out how." Further Reading Wattleton, Faye, Life On The Line, Ballantine Books, 1996.Ms., September 1996, p. 44-53.Ohio State University College of Nursing Magazine, Volume 7, number 1, 1997.People, November 25, 1996, p. 31-34. Plain Dealer, November 4, 1997.Time, October 7, 1996, p. 99.Town & Country, October 1996.USA Today, October 8, 1996.Center for Gender Equality, fact sheet, 1997. |