Faye Wattleton

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. She is best known for her contributions to family planning and reproductive health, and the reproductive rights movement.

Wattleton was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1943, the only child of a construction worker father and a mother who was a seamstress and a Church of God minister. 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. Although her mother never approved of her work in reproductive rights, 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.

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. 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.

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

While working toward her master's degree, she interned at a hospital in Harlem. There, Wattleton saw female patients with life-threatening side effects of unsafe abortions. During her time at the hospital in Harlem she learned about many aspects of unwanted pregnancy. Approximately 6,500 women were admitted for complications from incomplete abortions during her time there. 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. For two years she also served as the nursing instructor at the Miami Valley Hospital School of Nursing in Dayton

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. Based on her view of neighborhood health clinics helping pregnant women in New York, Wattleton pushed for a similar system in Dayton. 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.

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. 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. She joined the board of the local Planned Parenthood and shortly after, in 1970, Wattleton became the president of the Planned Parenthood of Dayton. 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. 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.

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. 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.^{[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. 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. However, the movement faced fierce opposition. Planned Parenthood clinics across the country experienced shootings, bombings, fires, and some employees were killed or injured. 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. At the same time, Wattleton was disappointed that about half of Planned Parenthood affiliates did not offer abortions. This, as well as other personal interests, led to her resignation as president in February 1992.