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Alice Wolfson is an American activist and attorney who specializes in women's health care. A
Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
graduate and former
Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...
, she is a veteran political activist in women's
reproductive health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's Human reproductive system, reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Se ...
issues, a lawyer, and a co-founder of the National Women's Health Network.


Activism

Wolfson gained prominence for her role at the
Nelson Pill Hearings In 1970, Barbara Seaman brought the dangers of combined oral contraceptive pill use to the attention of Senator Gaylord Nelson with her book ''The Doctors Case Against the Pill''. Nelson, who at the time was also busy organizing the first Earth ...
on
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
, where she and other soon-to-be prominent health feminists were galvanized by their success at warning women of the Pill's dangerous side effects. Wolfson invited fellow feminist
Barbara Seaman Barbara Seaman (September 11, 1935 – February 27, 2008) was an American author, feminist activist, and journalist, and a principal founder of the women's health movement. Early years Seaman, whose parents, Henry J. Rosner and Sophie Kimels ...
to testify at the hearings, and worked with her to eventually form the National Women's Health Network. Wolfson's activism is credited with opening up the FDA to consumer observers in order to better ensure that women's health would be addressed. Her efforts also led to the FDA requiring
medication package insert A package insert is a document included in the package of a medication that provides information about that drug and its use. For prescription medications, the insert is technical, providing information for medical professionals about how to pr ...
s with birth control pills, the first ever prescription drug insert in the United States. In 1968, Wolfson signed the “
Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse o ...
” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.“Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” January 30, 1968 ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' In the 1990s, she worked to obtain damages for women adversely affected by
breast implants A breast implant is a prosthesis used to change the size, shape, and contour of a person's breast. In reconstructive plastic surgery, breast implants can be placed to restore a natural looking breast following a mastectomy, to correct congenital ...
. Wolfson was featured in the 2014 documentary film ''
She's Beautiful When She's Angry ''She's Beautiful When She's Angry'' is a 2014 American documentary film about some of the women involved in the second-wave feminism, second-wave feminist movement in the United States. It was directed by Mary Dore and co-produced by Nancy Ken ...
'', where she advocated for "changing the whole paradigm" of under-represented
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
in society.


Women's health

Wolfson argues that the choice of
birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...
method belongs to the individual woman, as they would be the one affected by its failure. She has also stated that the "work and toil put in by her generation" would be undone if
Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...
was ever overturned.


Awards and honors

* Wolfson was the recipitent of the 2021
Millicent Carey McIntosh Millicent Carey McIntosh (November 30, 1898 – January 3, 2001) was an educational administrator and American feminist who led the Brearley School from 1930 to 1947, and Barnard College from 1947 to 1962. The first married woman to head one ...
Award for Feminism


See also

*
Birth control in the United States Birth control in the United States is available in many forms. Some of the forms available at drugstores and some retail stores are Condom, male condoms, female condoms, sponges, Spermicide, spermicides, over-the-counter Progestogen-only pill, ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfson, Alice Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women lawyers American health activists American lawyers American tax resisters American women's rights activists Barnard College alumni Women's health movement 21st-century American women