NARAL is beginning its search for a new president to replace Kate Michelman, who has announced she is stepping down next spring to work to defeat President George. W. Bush and care for her ailing husband.
Michelman says she wants to stay on board in order to lead the organization's effort to put on a national march for abortion in April 2004. An exclusive LifeNews.com report in August revealed that the AFSCME labor union is lending support to the pro-abortion march organizers.
However, the fact that Michelman will not step down from the position until late April is due in part to the fact that the organization will need six months to find Michelman's successor, as there is no heir apparent.
Sally Patterson, chair of the NARAL Pro-Choice America board of directors, said that it will be “very difficult to fill Kate's shoes.” She added that the organization has begun a national search for a new president who has “the stature and accomplishment to build on (Michelman's) work and take us into the future.”
A Democratic official who is close with NARAL authorities says the organization may try to find a nationally-known political figure, such as a member of Congress, to replace Michelman.
However, representatives of other pro-abortion groups say NARAL is looking for the “next Michelman,” — a 40-something year-old woman who is old enough to know the political ropes, but young enough to lead the organization for the next decade or longer.
According to a recent article in Roll Call magazine, some observers have speculated that two leading candidates include Gloria Totten, a former NARAL Pro-Choice America political director who is currently the executive director of the pro-abortion political group Progressive Majority, and Cecile Richards, former member of the NARAL Pro-Choice America board and former chief of staff to pro-abortion House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Richards now leads the organization America Votes.
It is not known whether either woman is interested in the position.
On Saturday, Michelman told about 100 Georgetown University students gathered for a pro-abortion rally that the April march will “play a key role in sending a message to America's leaders.”
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and LifeNews.com. For more information or to subscribe go to LifeNews.com or email [email protected].)
