Miriam Ramírez
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Miriam J. Ramírez de Ferrer (born June 24, 1941 in Caguas, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican leader, medical doctor, politician, and former
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. She was a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 2001–2021.


Biography

Dr. Miriam J. Ramírez de Ferrer, born in
Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was found ...
in 1941, lived in Europe while her father served in the U.S. Armed Forces. She graduated in 1968 with a medical degree from the
Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loc ...
. Married to a fellow physician, Dr. Tomás Ferrer, in 1974 she began practicing
obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a sur ...
and
gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with ...
, first in San Juan, and later, when she moved with her late husband Dr. Tomas Ferrer, MD, in
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pur ...
, where they raised five children. She became active in Puerto Rico's statehood movement in the late 1970s, creating and heading Puerto Ricans for Civic Action, and after the 1980 general elections, began a movement to raise over 100,000 signatures in favor of
statehood A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "st ...
for Puerto Rico. In 2000, she was nominated for Senator at-large by her New Progressive Party (NPP) and elected a member of the
Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, contro ...
from 2001 to 2005, where she was a member of the NPP minority caucus, headed by fellow senator
Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s Na ...
, who appointed her as
Ranking Member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...
of the Senate's Federal and International Affairs Committee.Elecciones Generales de 2000: Senadores por Acumulación
on CEEPUR For her efforts and close friendship with the late George H. W. Bush she took credit for the legislation approved in the US House of Representatives for Self-Determination for Puerto Rico. After leaving the Senate in 2004, served as advisor on Federal, Health and Legislative Affairs for
Jorge Santini Jorge Santini Padilla (born March 11, 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who previously served as the mayor of San Juan. State Service In 1975, Santini became a member of the United States Marines Air Cadets Corps. At present, he is Lieuten ...
, Mayor of San Juan, the Capital of Puerto Rico. Her major accomplishments while working for the city, include obtaining Federal property deed for “Casa Cuna” and other support from the Federal agencies to develop an area with multiple functions and buildings to give support, house and protect battered mothers and children. She was also instrumental in identifying resources for the financing of community projects for the city of San Juan. As soon as the results of the March 9, 2008 primaries were announced, NPP's Second Vice President, Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer, announced her immediate resignation, saying "Effectively right now I am no longer the Second Vice President of this party. You will not see me ever again involved in active politics, party reunions or party meetings, as I now plan to become a private citizen. There's a lot of things I haven't done I want to do, and I'll also do some things I have to do to help the statehood cause. Ramírez was a candidate for Resident Commissioner in the primaries and was openly supporting Rosselló. She lost to Fortuño's candidate, Pedro Pierluisi, and to another Rosselló supporter who was also defeated, former Senate President, Charlie Rodríguez. When Ramírez was asked by the media if she will vote for Fortuño, she replied "My vote is secret".


References


External links


1999 Interview to Miriam Ramírez
on ''Puerto Rico Herald''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Miriam 1941 births Complutense University of Madrid alumni Living people Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico People from Caguas, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican obstetricians Puerto Rican women in politics