Polly Rothstein: Westchester Leader for Women's Reproductive Rights

Polly Rothstein, a tireless and inspirational leader for women's reproductive rights in Westchester County and New York State, has died. She was 80.

She founded the Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion in 1972 and retired as its head in 2001.

According to a statement on the WCLA website:

In 1970, three years before Roe v. Wade, New York State legalized abortion. Two years later, the New York State legislature moved to rescind the recently passed abortion legalization laws and Polly Rothstein’s career and our organization, WCLA, was born.
Polly Rothstein, founder of WCLA (Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion) passed away yesterday. She was a tireless fighter for our rights — never shrinking from her principles — even when they called her a murderer and baby killer. Polly ignored the insults and kept her eye on the ball. Rather than focusing on emotions, she developed an effective tactic that our organization uses to this day. She called it Pro-Choice IDEA. She understood that politics was a numbers game, and her strategy to mobilize pro-choice voters which swung elections, turned Westchester County and New York state pro-choice.

A memorial service will be held; a date has not yet been set, according to the WCLA.

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