NARAL Pro-Choice America Announces Nancy Keenan as New President

[Democat]

Former Montana Elected Official to Focus on Expanding Grassroots Movement, Articulating Pro-Choice Values

Washington, DC- NARAL Pro-Choice America, the leading national advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose, announced today that progressive activist Nancy Keenan, a former statewide elected official from Montana, will serve as the organization’s new President. Keenan takes the reins at a time of unprecedented threats to women’s rights in the courts, in Congress, and in state legislatures across the nation.

Keenan said “The stakes have never been higher. Every branch of the federal government is dominated by powerful opponents of choice. President Bush is poised to make nominations to the Supreme Court that could overturn Roe v. Wade. Years of progress on women’s health, reproductive freedom, and personal privacy are in peril.” She continued “As a public servant from the heartland of America, I know that respect for a woman’s personal privacy and her right to choose are truly American values. We can and we will unite a new generation of American women and their families around these shared values, and preserve and protect our hard-won rights.”

Sally Patterson, Chair of the NARAL Pro-Choice America Board of Directors said, “Nancy is a seasoned leader and superb communicator with a lifetime commitment to pro-choice values and grassroots activism. Under her direction, NARAL Pro-Choice America will re-energize its base, expand its membership, and strengthen the message of individual freedom and responsibility. She will lead the charge in the battle for the Supreme Court and serve as a tireless advocate for our fundamental and constitutionally protected rights.”

Nancy Keenan was a three-term Montana State Superintendent of Public Instruction and a candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives. As a State Representative she was the primary sponsor of the Presumption of Arrest in Domestic Abuse legislation and of the nation’s first insurance legislation that outlawed the use of gender to establish rates for healthcare and other insurance coverage. Ms. Keenan also sponsored legislation for women’s rights, human rights, education funding, environmental protection, and workers’ rights and benefits.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives said, “From her days in the Montana State Legislature to her tenure as that state's superintendent of schools, Nancy Keenan has spent a lifetime advocating on behalf of women and children. She will make an outstanding president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. I look forward to working with her and NARAL on a comprehensive approach to reproductive health care, including planning for healthy families, preventing unwanted pregnancies, and protecting a woman's right to choose.”

Ms. Keenan will assume her role as President on December 1. Elizabeth Cavendish, who has been Interim President since Kate Michelman stepped down in May 2004, will stay on to assist in the transition.

http://www.naral.org/about/newsroom/pressrelease/pr111904_keenan.cfm

This is a press release, so I posted the whole thing.

Maybe some Montana DUers can comment on Keenan?

[Maat]

1. I'd be interested too - in their comments.

[qb]

2. Nancy Keenan from Facts of Life? Cool!

I'm not really that ignorant, but the name made me do a double-take at first.

[jburton]

3. sounds good to me

The former president had been at NARAL way too long, IMO.

I'm glad they picked a non-DC woman who has actually held public office before.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Where Were They During the Campaign??

Now they are on the verge of losing everything they have been
fighting for all these years.

[Isere]

5. I wondered that, too!

I kept thinking that maybe it was because I live in a very blue state that I didn't see squat in the way of ads.

My disappointment in all the abortion rights groups is nearly palpable. I have sent emails to EMILY's List, Planned Parenthood and NARAL expressing my disappointment in their ability to frame the debate in terms that are understandable, emotional and that put the opposition on the defensive. I feel I have poured my money down a sand hole.

One thing that ticks me off is that they, as well as the Democrats, have allowed the anti-choice folks to pick the vocabulary of the debate and frame the issue on their own deceitful terms. Hence we have semantic abominations such as "pro-life"...a term which gives the zealots a high ground they do not deserve. They should be called "pro-criminalization" and nothing else. This describes what they want to do in true and honest terms and forces them to own up to it.

Why have we allowed them to co-opt the debate?

[Johnyawl]

6. They were very active here in Washington State...

...raising money for local candidates. NARAL played a significant role in the Democrats increasing their control of the state House, and retaking the state Senate.

[AndyTiedye]

7. Did They Give Up on the Presidency and the U.S.Senate Before the Election?

Why not help keep Roe v. Wade from being overturned?
Now it may be too late.

[Isere]

8. Glad to hear it. n/t

n/t