Trailblazer… pioneer… the Washington Post obituary is a respectful celebration that gives a clear view of Pat’s personality and power.
Viva Pat! 
Monthly Archives: September 2021
NYT obituary
This comprehensive NYT obit is a detailed review of Pat’s historic career as the United States’ (and probably the world’s) first abortion rights activist — although the claim that she rechanneled her activism and didn’t talk much about abortion after Roe v Wade passed in 1973 is far from accurate.
On the contrary, though she was also an avid political cartoonist and active in the animal rights, environmental, civil rights and social justice movements, Pat remained first and foremost a passionate and vocal advocate of abortion.
She was generous with her time and encouragement, serving as a mentor to many women, including my older daughter (former manager and outreach/education coordinator at Women’s Health Specialists Redding before earning her master’s degree and women’s health APRN at Yale; now serving as Director of Women’s Health at a New Haven clinic) as well as Katrina Cantrell (Executive Director of both Women’s Health Specialists Redding & Chico and Northstate Women’s Health Network), along with countless other feminist activists, including myself.
Though she’s no longer with us, her inspiration lives on. Now, when our rights are in greater peril than ever before, Pat will serve as a role model to all women and our allies as we rise up to carry on her fight for reproductive justice.
Read more here:
Women’s Health Specialists Feminist Women’s Health Centers statement: Bans Off Our Bodies!
#AbortionOnDemandWithoutApology
#BansOffOurBodies
Rest in Power, PAT MAGINNIS
To Pat’s friends, followers and fans: Our dear friend and feminist icon Pat Maginnis has passed away at age 93.
Pat made history as the world’s first abortion rights activist. In 1962, as a student at San Jose State University, she formed the Citizens Committee for Humane Abortion Laws (CCHAL). Moving to San Francisco in 1963, she met and enlisted fellow feminist sheroes Rowena Gurner and Lana Phelan Kahn in the cause, renaming their group The Society for Humane Abortion (SHA) in 1964 .
The trio used a wide range of methods — holding symposia for medical professionals, creating and handing out thousands of leaflets and Pat’s provocative cartoons, and speaking at medical conventions, libraries, and family planning organizations and libraries, as well as providing them with literature, including their own “The Abortion Handbook “and other historic books and pamphlets.
Dubbed The Army of Three, they also spent much of their time teaching self-abortion classes and providing self-abortion kits to women across the country.
As ARAL (Association to Repeal Abortion Laws, the origin of today’s NARAL Pro-Choice America), the trio created and supervised an underground railroad of safe clinics in Mexico and other countries used by approximately 12,000 women. In this radical sub-group, the trio also deliberately performed illegal actions to provoke their arrests, which forced the successful courtroom battles that challenged and then struck down many abortion laws.
With this strategic multifaceted blitz approach, these three women were the primary and most effective pioneers of the abortion rights movement that culminated in the 1973 passage of Roe v Wade.
The most dedicated activist I’ve ever known, Pat was also the most joyful — a rare and vital combination. All of her friends and compatriots treasure the time we spent with her, inspired by her laser-like focus, prodigious energy, and astonishing courage, and enjoying her tremendous wit, warmth, and creativity.
When not out on the streets smashing the patriarchy, Pat enjoyed drawing trenchant political cartoons and writing accompanying limericks. She was also a dedicated environmental, anti-war, social justice, and animal rights activist.
As Pat’s longtime friend and creator/administrator of this site and the Pat Maginnis and the Army of Three Facebook page, I join the historic Women’s Health Specialists clinics, Northstate Women’s Health Network, and other members of the abortion rights movement and the larger feminist community in mourning Pat’s passage and celebrating the life of our mentor and shero.
Pat’s lifelong battle for women’s abortion rights and her fierce commitment to making the world a better place through reproductive justice must serve as our call to arms. Today, when our hard-won reproductive rights are in greater danger than ever before, Pat’s legacy will inspire us to work harder than ever to revitalize the movement.
Love and thanks, dearest Pat. Leading the Army of Three, you made life safer and freer for millions of women — then, now, and in the future — and we will honor your memory by continuing your historic mission.