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Two inspiring lives

June 2, 2014/2 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Kelsey Hazzard

Numerous pro-life groups commented on Maya Angelou’s passing last week. Most emphasized her courage in rejecting abortion when she became pregnant at the age of 16. But the Radiance Foundation pointed out that Angelou did not speak out for other children to have the same chance at life. In fact, she fundraised for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion organization.

Secular Pro-Life stayed silent; we generally don’t comment on celebrity deaths. That said, I agree with the Radiance Foundation that it’s inappropriate to “claim” Angelou for the pro-life movement.

At the same time, I kind of understand the impulse of pro-life groups who assumed, or wanted to believe, that Angelou was pro-life. A woman grows up in poverty in the Jim Crow South, chooses life for her child under dire circumstances, and later becomes a celebrated author, civil rights activist, and household name. Who wouldn’t find that inspiring?

So let’s remember Angelou for her many accomplishments. But if you’re looking for someone who made a contribution to the civil rights movement and the pro-life movement, you don’t need to twist the facts to invent one in Angelou. The woman you’re looking for is Dr. Mildred Jefferson.

Jefferson (1926-2010) grew up in Texas. She was the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School—in 1951, when her home state remained segregated by law. She then became a surgeon.

But when the abortion movement emerged, Dr. Jefferson devoted her time and effort to opposing it. Two years after Roe, she took office as the president of the National Right to Life Committee, and held that position for three terms. After that, she continued her involvement in the pro-life movement, helping NRLC form its political action committee and working to elect pro-life political candidates regardless of party.

Dr. Jefferson connected her personal struggles to larger principles of social justice. In her own words: “I am at once a physician, a citizen and a woman, and I am not willing to stand aside and allow this concept of expendable human lives to turn this great land of ours into just another exclusive reservation where only the perfect, the privileged and the planned have the right to live.”

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https://secularprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SecularProlife2.png 0 0 Kelsey Hazzard https://secularprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SecularProlife2.png Kelsey Hazzard2014-06-02 11:14:002021-11-08 12:30:18Two inspiring lives
2 replies
  1. Guest
    Guest says:
    June 2, 2014 at 1:20 pm

    "We come rich and poor, proud and plain, religious and agnostic,
    politically committed and independent. We can agree only on our respect
    for life and our determination to defend the right to life." – Dr.
    Mildred Jefferson

    Log in to Reply
  2. Karla
    Karla says:
    June 3, 2014 at 12:44 am

    I get that Maya was not super pro-life in the sens of being an activist but the fact that she was at least personally pro-life and practiced it I think is worth celebrating. I think the disconnect with a lot of personally pro-life women like Maya is that they care about the unborn but also care about women and think that the right to an abortion is pro-woman… that's why it is so important for pro-life feminist individuals and organizations to step up and show how abortion hurts women and is not a choice made from a brave feminist position but a choice made from fear, pressure from others, and lack of help… And sadly our society doesn't support pregnant women like we should, especially those in crisis so often I think these personally pro-life people just get swept up in all the pro-abort propaganda and just accept it as sad but the best option. We pro-lifers NEED to show that's not the case! It is not the best option for the unborn… and not for women either. Way to go Mildred Jefferson!! 🙂

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