Dear supporters,
It is with profound sadness that we are sharing devastating news that Andrea Miller, the president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health and its Action Fund for the past 12 years and a leading figure in our movement, passed away unexpectedly late last week.
Each one of you across the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement meant the world to our trailblazing leader. We want you to know that she carried our collective vision for a just and equitable world in every plan, meeting, and project. The NIRH team is comforted in knowing that Andrea’s powerful legacy to create reproductive freedom, including abortion access that leaves no one behind, lives on through each of us in this work.
Please find our statement below and our full press release linked here [[link removed]] .
Statement from the National Institute for Reproductive Health and its Action Fund:
“The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) and its Action Fund (NIRH AF) are grieving the sudden passing of our trailblazing leader, Andrea Miller, whose work leaves a lasting legacy on our beloved reproductive health, rights, and justice movement. We know that Andrea’s lifelong commitment to reproductive freedom including abortion touched the professional and personal lives of so many people inside and outside of our organization, who join us in mourning this enormous loss.
“NIRH’s deep work on proactive state and local policies, which centers the most marginalized communities historically excluded from reproductive health protections, was Andrea’s visionary response to decades of attacks on our most fundamental rights and freedoms. Spanning more than three decades, Andrea’s work helped shape public narratives and policy victories in landmark moments in the reproductive rights movement, from the Supreme Court decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey to increased availability of emergency contraception; to the enactment of the country’s first city-based abortion-funding initiatives; to a response to the fall of Roe v. Wade that would ensure that — this time — we would leave no one behind.
“Throughout her long tenure of leadership, Andrea kept her foot on the gas pedal, seeing many opportunities to do things differently and fearlessly challenging the status quo on abortion rights policies. She stood at the helm of this organization and publicly demanded just and equitable frameworks that would ensure that everyone can determine the course of their reproductive and family lives with dignity and joy. May her righteous indignation and unrelenting determination for all people to experience abortion equity live on through each of us across reproductive health, rights, and justice work.
“As the staff of NIRH, we will deeply miss her mentorship, her willingness to listen, debate, and strategize closely with us, and who she was to each of us as a colleague. Andrea was an avid biker, an arts and music buff, an adventurous traveler, a passionate animal lover, and a devoted friend who built deep and lasting relationships across decades and long distances. She was fiercely proud of her roots in the upper Midwest, including Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Dakota. We’ll miss her sense of humor, her unique turns of phrase, and the stories she shared of growing up with her beloved family and her early years of activism at Columbia University and beyond.
“There are no words that can adequately capture the impact Andrea made on communities across this country. On behalf of NIRH staff, Board, supporters, and partners, we are offering these words in memorial to Andrea Miller, our president, leader, friend, sister, mentor, and colleague.”
Statement from NIRH board chair, Abby Schumer and NIRH Action Fund board chair, Daniel Gonzalez:
“As board chairs, as well as friends of Andrea’s, we are heartbroken by her passing, and we are deeply committed to carrying on her legacy and ensuring the continued success of the NIRH and its Action Fund. Andrea was a visionary leader who built a strong team around her. The boards have the utmost confidence in the senior leadership and staff to continue the work and fighting forward in Andrea’s honor. We have convened a special committee that is working closely with staff to name an interim president and ensure a smooth leadership transition.”
National Institute for Reproductive Health
14 Wall St
Suite 3B
New York, NY 10005
United States
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