Ann McGuiness (27 July 1957 – 3 August 2022) was an American

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on t ...

advocate. She worked with

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

for 20 years from 1986-2006, a specialist in

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

and political advocacy. She worked with

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

from 2006 until 2018.

Early life and education

Ann McGuiness was born in

New Britain, Connecticut New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately southwest of Hartford. According to 2020 Census, the population of the city is 74,135. Among the southernmost of the communities encompassed wit ...

, USA into an Irish-Catholic family. Herfather was steamfitter Edward McGuiness and her mother Catherine a public schoolteacher. She had two brothers Patrick and Timothy, and one sister, Mary Kate. She studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Saint Joseph (Connecticut) The University of Saint Joseph is a private Roman Catholic university in West Hartford, Connecticut. It was founded in 1932 by the Sisters of Mercy of Connecticut. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. ...

in West Hartford, and graduated in 1979. At

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York she earned a master's degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

in 1984.

Career

In 1986 she moved to Washington, DC, and worked for

Timothy Wirth Timothy Endicott "Tim" Wirth (born September 22, 1939) is an American politician from Colorado who served as a Democrat in both the United States Senate (1987-1993) and the United States House of Representatives (1975–1987). He also served in ...

's campaign for the US Senate. She then joined

. From 2006 until 2018, McGuiness worked for

. In 2020 she founded the Contraceptive Access Initiative. She also furthered organizations such as

Families USA Families USA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer health advocacy and policy organization. Co-founded founded in 1981 by Ronald Pollack, the first executive director, and Philippe Villers, the organization's current president, Families USA's advo ...

International Women's Health Coalition The International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1984 based in New York City. It focuses on issues relating to women and girls' human rights, health and equality and represents part of the women's movem ...

, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, and

Rewire News Group Rewire News Group (formerly Rewire and RH Reality Check) is a daily United States online news publication focused on reproductive and sexual health from a pro-choice perspective. It also covers issues around racial, environmental, immigration, an ...

Personal life

McGuiness was married to William Reynolds, and had a daughter, Nora McGuiness Reynolds, and a son, Nicholas McGuiness Reynolds. In 2000, a career shift brought the family to the

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, area. She practiced

backcountry skiing Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste (Europe), alpine touring, or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which i ...

in Canadian wilderness areas, and sailed on the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. In August 2022, McGuiness died of

leiomyosarcoma Leiomyosarcoma is a malignant (cancerous) smooth muscle tumor. A benign tumor originating from the same tissue is termed leiomyoma. While leiomyosarcomas are not thought to arise from leiomyomas, some leiomyoma variants' classification is evolvi ...

of the lungs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuiness, Ann 1957 births 2022 deaths Reproductive rights activists