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Life on the Line
"I have never believed in the impossible," declares Wattleton, acknowledging that it is a motto she learned at her mother's knee. By any measure, Faye Wattleton has led an extraordinary life. The daughter of a black female fundamentalist preacher, Faye Wattleton went on to become president of Planned Parenthood from 1978 to 1992, the first African American (and the first woman) to head the organization since Margaret Sanger founded it in 1916. During a period of explosive conflict, Wattleton played a crucial role in defining our national debate over sex education, contraception, and abortion. Her mission has inspired millions--while the issues she has strongly defended have become targets for Congressional attacks, legal challenges, and fiery zealots. Faye Wattleton has literally put her life on the line for what she believes, and this fascinating book is both a chronicle of her life and our times.
The young Faye found strength and pride in her mother's at a time when most black women were struggling under the double repression of racism and sexism, Ozie Wattleton became a fiery fundamentalist minister who riveted congregations, both white and black, all over the country. Ozie's devotion to her calling made her a wonderful role model for her only child, but as the minister's daughter Faye was expected to be the living exemplar of her mother's teachings.
Committed to her own identity, Faye chose a very different path from her mother's. A nursing student at Ohio State University and later a graduate of Columbia University's midwifery program, Wattleton dedicated herself to healing--only to be stunned by the harsh realities of women's lives in America, especially the humiliation and danger inflicted on women by illegal abortions.
She joined Planned Parenthood because it offered dignity and reproductive options to women, rising quickly to the top of the organization. During the fourteen years of her controversial leadership, Wattleton moved Planned Parenthood into the forefront of the movement to preserve and extend women's reproductive rights, standing up to an increasingly vocal and violent right-wing opposition. This battle--waged through our judicial, legislative, and social systems--is recounted with both clarity and passion in Life on the Line.
As we continue to shape and define the global initiatives that will preserve women's right to choose, Faye Wattleton remains a voice of reason. She is a woman of action who has courageously placed herself in the center of the most explosive issue of our time without losing her compassion.
The young Faye found strength and pride in her mother's at a time when most black women were struggling under the double repression of racism and sexism, Ozie Wattleton became a fiery fundamentalist minister who riveted congregations, both white and black, all over the country. Ozie's devotion to her calling made her a wonderful role model for her only child, but as the minister's daughter Faye was expected to be the living exemplar of her mother's teachings.
Committed to her own identity, Faye chose a very different path from her mother's. A nursing student at Ohio State University and later a graduate of Columbia University's midwifery program, Wattleton dedicated herself to healing--only to be stunned by the harsh realities of women's lives in America, especially the humiliation and danger inflicted on women by illegal abortions.
She joined Planned Parenthood because it offered dignity and reproductive options to women, rising quickly to the top of the organization. During the fourteen years of her controversial leadership, Wattleton moved Planned Parenthood into the forefront of the movement to preserve and extend women's reproductive rights, standing up to an increasingly vocal and violent right-wing opposition. This battle--waged through our judicial, legislative, and social systems--is recounted with both clarity and passion in Life on the Line.
As we continue to shape and define the global initiatives that will preserve women's right to choose, Faye Wattleton remains a voice of reason. She is a woman of action who has courageously placed herself in the center of the most explosive issue of our time without losing her compassion.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
489 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 2, 2021
solid memoir by the first woman/black woman head of planned parenthood. and her mother was a preacher.
February 16, 2020
Non-fiction is not very fun for me, even if I am interested in the topic. Faye Wattleton was the first African American president of Planned Parenthood and her story is very interesting, frustrating and inspiring. But, please don't make me read all 500 pages again.
March 4, 2009
Good read - interesting to read about what was happening behind the scenes at Planned Parenthood during the Roe v. Wade early years. But Faye sounds like she was a beating to work for! :-)
December 28, 2010
Reminded me of the passion with which I first decided to call myself a feminist. So inspiring. Good if you are suffering burnout.
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October 27, 2017I'm not going to give this a star rating, because I can't really rate it fairly. I am very pro-life. I was surprised that Wattleton included in her memoir a story of the debate where she told Randall Terry she was aware that abortion killed a "baby." Disturbing that she stood by that. She knew it was a baby. The book itself was slow at times, especially when it was talking about her childhood, but it did do a good job of capturing Wattleton's life and personality. I find many of her positions and thought processes to be twisted.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews