Mildred Fay Jefferson (April 6, 1927 – October 15, 2010)"Leading anti-abortion activist Mildred Jefferson dies at 83" ''The Patriot Ledger'' via ''The Associated Press''
October 17, 2010 was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

. The first black woman to graduate from

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, the first woman to graduate in surgery from Harvard Medical School and the first woman to become a member of the Boston Surgical Society, she is known for her

opposition to the legalization of abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respon ...

and her work as president of the

National Right to Life Committee The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since the 1980s, NRLC has influen ...

Personal life and education

Born in

Pittsburg, Texas Pittsburg is a city and the county seat of Camp County, Texas, United States. Best known as the former home of the giant poultry producer Pilgrim's and the home of racing legend Carroll Shelby, Pittsburg is also the birthplace of Cavender's Boot ...

, Jefferson was the only child of Millard and Guthrie Jefferson, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister, and a school teacher. Her parents divorced before 1976 and lived in Roxbury after their divorce. Jefferson was raised in

Carthage, Texas Carthage is a city and the county seat of Panola County, Texas, United States. This city is situated in deep East Texas, 20 miles west of the Louisiana state line. Its population was 6,569 at the 2020 census. History Carthage was founded in 1847, ...

, in the Wesley-

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

tradition. Note, this is the first part of the article, which i
continued on page A17
At a young age, "Millie" followed the town doctor around on his horse drawn buggy while he made housecalls, this would later inspire her to become a doctor. She earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in three years from

Texas College Texas College is a private, historically black Christian Methodist Episcopal college in Tyler, Texas. It is affiliated with the United Negro College Fund. It was founded in 1894 by a group of ministers affiliated with the Christian Methodist Epi ...

. Since she was considered too young to attend medical school, she went to

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

where she received her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in biology. She then went on to

and graduated in 1951, becoming the first black woman to do so. Jefferson married in 1963 to Shane Cunningham, whom she met on a skiing trip, a real estate manager. As of 1976, the couple lived in

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

and had no children.

Career

Jefferson achieved

board certification Board certification is the process by which a physician or other professional demonstrates a mastery of advanced knowledge and skills through written, practical, or simulator-based testing. Certification bodies There are more than 25 boards that ...

in surgery in 1972. After graduating from medical school, she did a surgical internship at

Boston City Hospital The Boston City Hospital (1864–1996), in Boston, Massachusetts, was a public hospital, located in the South End. It was "intended for the use and comfort of poor patients, to whom medical care will be provided at the expense of the city, and . ...

, becoming the first woman to do so. She was also the first female doctor at the former

Boston University Medical Center Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a non-profit 514-bed academic medical center in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest safety-net hospital and Level I trauma center in New England. BMC employs 1,466 physicians—including 711 residents and f ...

. By 1984, Jefferson was a

general surgeon General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid g ...

at the center and a professor of surgery at the Boston University School of Medicine. Note - this is the first section of the news article
part 2 appears on p. 2B
She would later become the first woman to become a member of the Boston Surgical Society.

Anti-abortion work

Mildred Jefferson meeting with Ronald Reagan

One root of Jefferson's opposition to abortion was her dedication to the

Hippocratic oath The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing gods, to uphold specific e ...

, which morally bound her to the preservation of life. Her interest in abortion issues was triggered when she was asked to sign a petition opposing a resolution proposed by the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

supporting liberalization of abortion-related laws. It was around 1970 when Jefferson became one of the founders of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. She later helped found the

(NRLC). In 1971, she became a member of the NRLC board of directors. She became the vice president of the National Right to Life Committee in 1973 and then was elected as chairman of the board the following year. Mildred then was elected as president of NRLC, serving three terms from 1975 to 1978. Jefferson concurrently wrote a column, "Lifelines", in the National Right to Life News publication. In 1975, Jefferson was the first witness for the prosecution in the

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

case levied against Kenneth Edelin for his performance of a legal abortion. It was in 1980 that Jefferson helped the

start a political action committee because she believed it was important to lobby and support

candidates for office. While a Republican, she helped Democrat

Ellen McCormack Ellen Cullen McCormack (September 15, 1926 – March 27, 2011) was an American politician who was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976. Early life On September 15, 1926, Eleanor Rose Cullen was born in The Bron ...

run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1976. Apart from NRLC, Jefferson served on boards of directors of more than 30

organizations. Jefferson is also noted for changing Ronald Reagan's stance on abortion from pro-choice to

. He wrote to her in a letter, "You have made it irrefutably clear that an abortion is the taking of a human life, I am grateful to you."

Political activities and positions

Jefferson supported the one issue,

1975–6 campaign of

for president and appeared in television advertisements for McCormack. Jefferson was a self-described "Lincoln Republican" and served on the 1980

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Reagan for President Campaign. Jefferson had first met Reagan in 1973 while he was

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

. She also unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the 1982, 1990, and 1994 U.S. Senate elections. Jefferson opposed the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

on the basis that it is unnecessary as the Constitution has no in-built inequity. She for years called for a

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

to reverse the 1973 Supreme Court decision in ''Roe v. Wade'', rejecting the notion that abortion is a private matter between a woman and her physician. Jefferson also expressed opposition to

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

and busing, and support for the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

Death

Jefferson died in her Cambridge home on October 15, 2010, at the age of 83 years. She was divorced and had no children. She was buried in her hometown of

References

External links

National Right to Life Committee website

Papers of Mildred Jefferson, 1947-2010.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Mildred Jefferson speaks on abortion
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Mildred Fay 1927 births 2010 deaths African-American activists African-American physicians American surgeons Methodists from Texas American anti-abortion activists Harvard Medical School alumni Massachusetts Republicans People from Cambridge, Massachusetts People from Carthage, Texas Texas College alumni Tufts University School of Medicine alumni People from Pittsburg, Texas African-American people in Massachusetts politics African-American women in politics 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American women physicians Women surgeons Candidates in the 1982 United States elections Candidates in the 1990 United States elections Candidates in the 1994 United States elections Methodists from Massachusetts Black conservatism in the United States