Second Napa and Sonoma Valleys Roe v. Wade Anniversary Luncheon and Action Summit
Keynote Speaker As profiled on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Dr. Susan Wicklund is an abortion provider, who for the past 20 years has been committed to keeping abortion safe and legal to women of the rural Midwest. Her dedication comes from a mixture of circumstances not as unusual as one would think. She grew up in a working class, rural Wisconsin family, struggled as a single mother on state assistance, and then experienced an abortion done by an unethical doctor. At the age of 26 and with a 3 year old daughter, she started her undergraduate studies and then went on to Medical School at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1987. She had to fight the system to be trained in abortion care at a time when most medical schools did not – and still do not – teach reproductive health care, and soon after dedicated herself to filling the void of available abortion care. In addition to traveling all over the Midwest and Montana to provide abortions to mostly rural woman, Dr Wicklund has been a plaintiff in numerous lawsuits challenging state laws around parental consent and imposed 24-hour waiting periods for women seeking abortions. She has been an active speaker for fundraisers all over the country and interviewed on many local and national media outlets. Over the years, Dr. Wicklund has endured death threats and endless protests at home and at work, at times wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a concealed weapon. Her bravery and devotion to others remain unshaken, and she is determined to not let the reproductive rights debate lose sight of the individual woman.
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