Sarah Wheat, long-time reproductive rights advocate, will be starting a new job next week when she takes over as public affairs director for Austin Planned Parenthood. For the past six years, Wheat has worked in a similar capacity with NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, where she served as political director for five years before taking over as the group’s executive director last year. In short, Wheat’s new job means moving to a new office where she’ll continue the same fight to ensure reproductive rights for all women.
Wheat has become a fixture at the Capitol during legislative sessions where she does battle with lawmakers seeking to restrict women’s health care rights – including repro-rights foe Rep. Frank “The Fetus” Corte, who, based on prefiled legislation, appears poised to continue his quest to “protect” pharmacists who object, on “moral” grounds, to filling scrips for emergency contraceptives – the so-called Plan B morning-after pill, an elevated dose of birth control pills that can prevent egg fertilization – or, simply, ovulation – when taken within 48 hours of unprotected sex. To hear Corte tell is, EC is nothing more than abortion – a fallacy we expect Wheat will continue to challenge in the upcoming legislative session. Fortunately, the facts are on her side.
This article appears in November 10 • 2006.