Pamela Merritt is an American writer and

reproductive justice Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the righ ...

activist who advocates for

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 ...

and against

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

. Merritt is the executive director at Medical Students for Choice (MSFC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a network of over 10,000 medical students and residents around the world. Prior to joining MSFC, Merritt co-founded and served with Erin Matson as co-director at Reproaction, a reproductive justice organization that works to increase access to abortion, expose deceptive practices at pregnancy crisis centers, and improve infant and maternal death rates. Merritt advocates for recruiting and training more

doula A doula (; ; ) is a non-medical professional who provides guidance for the service of others and who supports another person (the doula's client) through a significant health-related experience, such as childbirth, miscarriage, induced abortion ...

s and

midwives A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their ...

to improve birth mortality rates. She has published thousands of articles on racism and gender, and been featured on several national websites for her activism and expertise, including on the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

, Vox, and the

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

. Merritt regularly receives violent sexual threats in response to her work, and is harassed extensively online on social media. She says she routinely reports the most threatening incidents to the police, and was once warned by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

about a white supremacist actively trying to find her home address, forcing her to change her online habits. Merritt is a member of the

Guttmacher Institute The Guttmacher Institute is a research and policy NGO that aims to improve sexual health and expand reproductive rights worldwide. The organization was started in 1968 as part of Planned Parenthood; it became independent from Planned Parenthood ...

board of directors, the Leadership Council of Our Bodies Ourselves Today, and is the Honorary Chair of the Reproaction Advisory Council. She has spoken out strongly against

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. She grew up in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and before becoming an activist worked for a St. Louis newspaper. Merritt attended

Bard College at Simon's Rock Bard College at Simon's Rock (more commonly known as Simon's Rock) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It is part of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudso ...

and

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, where she studied anthropology and women's studies.

References

Outside links

Reproaction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Pamela 21st-century American women Advocates of women's reproductive rights American women's rights activists American women writers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)