page_title: Mildred Fay Jefferson
section_title: Pro-life work
hierarchical_section_title: Mildred Fay Jefferson / Pro-life work
caption_attribution_description: English: Mildred Jefferson meeting with Ronald Reagan about Right to Life movement
context_page_description: Mildred Fay Jefferson was an American physician and political activist. The first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School, the first woman to graduate in surgery from Harvard Medical School and the first woman to become a member of the Boston Surgical Society, she is known for her opposition to the legalization of abortion and her work as president of the National Right to Life Committee.
context_section_description: One root of Jefferson's opposition to abortion was her dedication to the Hippocratic oath, which morally bound her to the preservation of life. Her interest in abortion issues was triggered when she was asked to sign a petition opposing a resolution proposed by the American Medical Association supporting liberalization of abortion-related laws.
  It was around 1970 when Jefferson became one of the founders of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. She later helped found the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).  In 1971, she became a member of the NRLC board of directors. She became the vice president of the National Right to Life Committee in 1973 and then was elected as chairman of the board the following year. Mildred then was elected as president of NRLC, serving three terms from 1975 to 1978. Jefferson concurrently wrote a column, "Lifelines", in the National Right to Life News publication.
  In 1975, Jefferson was the first witness for the prosecution in the manslaughter case levied against Kenneth Edelin for his performance of a legal abortion.
  It was in 1980 that Jefferson helped the National Right to Life Committee start a political action committee because she believed it was important to lobby and support pro-life candidates for office. While a Republican, she helped Democrat Ellen McCormack run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1976. Apart from NRLC, Jefferson served on boards of directors of more than 30 pro-life organizations.
  Jefferson is also noted for changing Ronald Reagan's stance on abortion from pro-choice to pro-life. He wrote to her in a letter, "You have made it irrefutably clear that an abortion is the taking of a human life, I am grateful to you."
caption: Mildred Jefferson meeting with Ronald Reagan, 1981
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