Frances Kissling

Frances Kissling is a 2007/8 Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University where she is working on a book on ethics and abortion as well as publishing essays on current controversies in reproductive health and rights and feminism. She is currently a member of the board of Catolicas por el derecho a decider, Mexico, Ibis Reproductive Health, Change and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, the editorial advisory board of Reproductive Health Matters, the technical review boards of IPPF's Safe Abortion Fund and the Eurongos Small Grants Fund and the advisory board of the Women's Bioethics Project. She has served on the boards of the International Women's Health Coalition, Guttmacher Institute, and SIECUS and is one of three founders of the Global Fund for Women. Over her 38 years of work in the field of reproductive rights, Frances has been the director of several abortion clinics in the US and helped develop abortion services in Italy, Austria and Mexico. She was a founder and the first executive director of the National Abortion Federation. For 25 years she served as the president of Catholics for a Free Choice.

Kissling is a prolific writer, having co authored with Ellen Frankfurt, Rosie The Investigation of a Wrongful Death, contributed chapters in 8 books on reproduction and/or religion and produced over 120 articles, book reviews and op-eds for periodicals as diverse as the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, The New York Times, LA Times, SF Chronicle, Salon.com, The Nation, O Globo (Brazil), Debate Feminista (Mexico), Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland). Kissling has worked extensively in Latin America on reproductive health issues and lectured and conducted workshops in 35 countries.

Ted Kennedy: A Death in the Family

Catholic tradition influenced Ted Kennedy the Senator and the man. But he did not wear his religion on his sleeve, instead grounding his commitment in the experiences of the poor, immigrants, women, LGBT persons and others.

What’s Wrong With the New Pro-Lifers

Amid proclamations that common ground has been reached on abortion, a new set of anti-abortion actors has claimed leadership of the movement. These good and decent people nonetheless lack understanding of women's nature and identity.

Common Ground? The Evidence, Please

Can we truly say we have found common ground on family planning when all we have done is found a few people who disagree with us on reproductive rights as human rights are able to support a bill that provides family planning funding?