Alice Wolfson
{{Short description|American lawyer and activist}}
{{infobox person
|name = Alice Wolfson
|nationality = American
|alma_mater = Barnard College
|known_for = Women's health
|occupation = {{flatlist|
- Lawyer
- activist
}}
}}
Alice Wolfson is an American activist and attorney who specializes in women's health care. A Barnard College graduate and former Fulbright Scholar, she is a veteran political activist in women's reproductive health issues, a lawyer, and a co-founder of the National Women's Health Network.
Activism
Wolfson gained prominence for her role at the Nelson Pill Hearings on Capitol Hill, where she and other soon-to-be prominent health feminists were galvanized by their success at warning women of the Pill's dangerous side effects.{{cite web |url=https://www.menstruationresearch.org/2010/05/25/how-the-pill-gave-birth-to-the-women%E2%80%99s-health-movement/ |title=How the Pill Gave Birth to the Women’s Health Movement |last=Kissling |first=Elizabeth |website=MenstruationResearch.org |date=May 25, 2010 |access-date=June 10, 2025}} Wolfson invited fellow feminist Barbara Seaman to testify at the hearings, and worked with her to eventually form the National Women's Health Network.{{cite book |url=https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Women_and_Health/zSCgj8LXFHAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Alice+Wolfson%22&pg=PA29&printsec=frontcover |title=Women and Health |editor-last1=Goldman |editor-first1=Marline B. |editor-last2=Hatch |editor-first2=Maureen |publisher=Elsevier Science |page=29 |date=2000 |isbn=9780122881459 |access-date=June 10, 2025}} Wolfson's activism is credited with opening up the FDA to consumer observers in order to better ensure that women's health would be addressed.{{cite book |url=https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Women_and_Health/zSCgj8LXFHAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Alice+Wolfson%22&pg=PA29&printsec=frontcover |title=Voices of the Women's Health Movement, Volume 1 |editor-last1=Seaman |editor-first1=Barbara |editor-last2=Eldridge |editor-first2=Laura |publisher=Seven Stories Press |page=54 |date=February 14, 2012 |isbn=9781609804459 |access-date=June 10, 2025}} Her efforts also led to the FDA requiring medication package inserts with birth control pills, the first ever prescription drug insert in the United States.{{cite web |url=https://journeytolegacy.com/pioneer-in-womens-health-1960s/ |title=A Pioneer In Women's Health in the 1960s |last=Klein |first=Joanna |website=JourneyToLegacy.com |date=July 26, 2021 |access-date=June 10, 2025}}
In 1968, Wolfson signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.“Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” January 30, 1968 New York Post In the 1990s, she worked to obtain damages for women adversely affected by breast implants.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1992/06/23/breast-implants/e9b7ebc2-d071-4c80-998c-940f2260c98b/ |title=Now Women Are Having a Hard Time Getting Them Out |last=Boodman |first=Sandra G. |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 22, 1992 |access-date=June 10, 2025}}
Wolfson was featured in the 2014 documentary film She's Beautiful When She's Angry, where she advocated for "changing the whole paradigm" of under-represented women's rights in society.{{cite web |url=https://awolau.org/1685/print/culture/review-film-shes-beautiful-when-shes-angry-and-the-history-of-the-feminist-movement/ |title=Review Film: "She's Beautiful When She's Angry" and the history of the feminist movement |last=Falek |first=Rachel |website=awolau.org |date=February 20, 2015 |access-date=June 10, 2025}}
= Women's health =
Wolfson argues that the choice of birth control method belongs to the individual woman, as they would be the one affected by its failure.{{cite web |url=http://www.nwhn.org/alice_wolfson |title=Alice Wolfson |last=Bloom |first=Amy |website=nwhn.org |date=October 8, 2007 |access-date=June 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008235916/http://www.nwhn.org/alice_wolfson |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 8, 2007}} She has also stated that the "work and toil put in by her generation" would be undone if Roe v. Wade was ever overturned.{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/speak-dont-ashamed-activists-fought-roe-urge-younger-generation-keep-f-rcna27153 |title='Speak up. Don’t be ashamed': Activists who fought for Roe urge younger generation to keep fighting |last=Ali |first=Safia Samee |publisher=NBCNews.com |date=May 3, 2022 |access-date=June 10, 2025}}
Awards and honors
- Wolfson was the recipitent of the 2021 Millicent Carey McIntosh Award for Feminism{{cite web |url=https://veteranfeministsofamerica.org/vfa-pioneer-histories-project-alice-wolfson/ |title=Alice Wolfson: "The Women's Movement Gave Me a Voice" |last=Waxman |first=Judith |website=Veteran Feminists of America |date=June 2021 |access-date=June 10, 2025}}