Sex and the Single Planet

A fortunate confluence of the personal and the political has propelled Gloria Feldt's life journey. A teen mother and wife from rural Texas, she raised three children while attending college. She taught in the Head Start program and was active in the civil rights movement. Realizing that women's civil rights depend on the right to determine their own reproductive destiny, Gloria joined Planned Parenthood in 1974. Her innovative thinking, effective activism, and courageous leadership as a Planned Parenthood affiliate chief executive, first in West Texas and later in Arizona, led to her being tapped as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) in 1996. She is also immediate past president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the organization's political arm.