THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Fran Avallone

July 18, 1937 – December 10, 2003

“We, the majority of U.S. citizens who believe in a woman’s right to choose a safe, legal abortion, believe that women who choose an abortion make a responsible, caring decision, one that they feel is the best decision for them. We know that abortion has been around for thousands of years. We know that women faced with an unintended pregnancy will have an abortion whether or not it’s legal. We know that illegal abortions cause women to die.”  – Fran Avallone, Right to Choose Founder, East Brunswick, NJ, April 1990 

Prominent reproductive rights advocate. Defended and protected every woman’s right to reproductive freedom, regardless of age, financial or marital status, through comprehensive education and tireless political activism. Founded New Jersey Right to Choose, a pro-choice advocacy group, along with the Right to Choose Education Fund and Right to Choose Political Action Committee, 1975. Lobbied the New Jersey Legislature regarding choice. Right to Choose challenged the tax-exempt status of New Jersey Right to Life in a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, 1976. Wrote the pro-choice literature distributed by the organizations and created a collection of personal stories entitled “New Jersey Women Speak Out.” The collection holds the stories of women who experienced the horror of abortion when it was illegal, either in their own lives or those of friends or family. Spearheaded the landmark case of Right To Choose v Byrne, which, in 1982, after a seven-year battle, established the constitutionality of Medicaid payments for abortions for indigent women in New Jersey. Joined the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of Middlesex County in 1974, serving three years as President starting in 1979.