WASHINGTON -- November 19 -- NARAL Pro-Choice America, the leading national advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose, announced today that progressive activist Nancy Keenan, a former statewide elected official from Montana, will serve as the organization’s new President. Keenan takes the reins at a time of unprecedented threats to women’s rights in the courts, in Congress, and in state legislatures across the nation.
Keenan said “The stakes have never been higher. Every branch of the federal government is dominated by powerful opponents of choice. President Bush is poised to make nominations to the Supreme Court that could overturn Roe v. Wade. Years of progress on women’s health, reproductive freedom, and personal privacy are in peril.” She continued “As a public servant from the heartland of America, I know that respect for a woman’s personal privacy and her right to choose are truly American values. We can and we will unite a new generation of American women and their families around these shared values, and preserve and protect our hard-won rights.”

Sally Patterson, Chair of the NARAL Pro-Choice America Board of Directors said, “Nancy is a seasoned leader and superb communicator with a lifetime commitment to pro-choice values and grassroots activism. Under her direction, NARAL Pro-Choice America will re-energize its base, expand its membership, and strengthen the message of individual freedom and responsibility. She will lead the charge in the battle for the Supreme Court and serve as a tireless advocate for our fundamental and constitutionally protected rights.”

Nancy Keenan was a three-term Montana State Superintendent of Public Instruction and a candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives. As a State Representative she was the primary sponsor of the Presumption of Arrest in Domestic Abuse legislation and of the nation’s first insurance legislation that outlawed the use of gender to establish rates for healthcare and other insurance coverage. Ms. Keenan also sponsored legislation for women’s rights, human rights, education funding, environmental protection, and workers’ rights and benefits.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives said, “From her days in the Montana State Legislature to her tenure as that state's superintendent of schools, Nancy Keenan has spent a lifetime advocating on behalf of women and children. She will make an outstanding president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. I look forward to working with her and NARAL on a comprehensive approach to reproductive health care, including planning for healthy families, preventing unwanted pregnancies, and protecting a woman's right to choose.”

Ms. Keenan will assume her role as President on December 1. Elizabeth Cavendish, who has been Interim President since Kate Michelman stepped down in May 2004, will stay on to assist in the transition.

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