Kate Michelman is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 political activist. She is best known for her support for the pro-choice

Pro-choice

Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....

 movement in the United States of America.

Career

For 19 years, from 1985 to 2004, Michelman served as president of NARAL Pro-Choice America

NARAL Pro-Choice America

NARAL Pro-Choice America , formerly the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, then National Abortion Rights Action League, and later National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, is an organization in the United States that engages in political action to oppose...

, a pro-choice organization dedicated to repealing abortion

Abortion

Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

 laws in the United States. Following her departure from NARAL, she worked as a political consultant and published her memoirs, With Liberty and Justice for All: A Life Spent Protecting the Right to Choose, with Hudson Street Press in 2006. She also testified against Supreme Court

Supreme court

A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...

 justices Samuel Alito

Samuel Alito

Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....

 and Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....

 at their confirmation hearings. In 2003, Michelman was named on the PoliticsPA

PoliticsPA

- Content :The website focuses on news aggregation, linking to major political news making headlines across the state. The editors write occasional features, like the weekly "Up & Down" scorecard and one-off lists like "Harrisburg's Smartest Staffer" and "Best Dressed Lobbyist" lists...

 list of "Pennsylvania's Most Politically Powered Women."

Personal life

Michelman is married with several children. She left her career as a political consultant to care for one of her daughters, after her daughter was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident in 2002, and for her husband, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

. Due to problems with their health insurance

Health insurance

Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...

, Michelman's family faced large hospital bills, particularly after her husband fractured his hip in a fall. Michelman stated that because of her family's mounting health care bills, her family had "literally fallen from the middle-class to potentially having nothing." Her husband's assisted living bills totaled $9,000 a month and Michelman was forced to cash in her I.R.A.

Individual Retirement Account

An individual retirement arrangement is the blanket term for a form of retirement plan that provides tax advantages for retirement savings in the United States...

to help pay for her daughter's health care costs.