African American activist Faye Wattleton (born 1943) has dedicated her life to preserving and protecting the rights of women, first as an advocate for reproductive self-determination and later as a catalyst for gender equality.

Other than securing the right to vote, one of, if not the most important right women have won in the twentieth century, is the right to obtain a safe and legal abortion. During her fourteen-year tenure as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), Wattleton brought the nation's oldest and largest voluntary reproductive health organization to the forefront of the battle to preserve women's right to reproductive self-determination.

As the first African American and the first woman to lead Planned Parenthood since its founder Margaret Sanger, Wattleton expanded the organization's focus on contraception and reproductive education to include a strong advocacy position for abortion rights. This stance placed both Wattleton and Planned Parenthood...