Laura Woliver is well known to Columbia League members as our president from 2019-2021. Given the recent prominence of anti-legal abortion activism, Laura plans to discuss the politics of health care and how intertwined it is in gender politics. She looks forward to a lively Q and A session.

Laura holds B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science and is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Political Science and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. During her 32-year career at the university, she taught American politics, social movements, political parties and women and politics. She received several teaching awards at USC and a “Mentor of Distinction Award” from the national Women’s Caucus in Political Science. Her publications include articles, book chapters, and reviews focusing on social movements, the intersections of gender, race, social class and sexualities in behavior, identity and politics.

Laura has also published three books. Push Back, Move Forward: The National Council of Women’s Organizations and Coalition Advocacy, the most recent, is based on years of fieldwork, observations, archival research and interviews with women’s rights leaders and activists in Washington, D.C. After exploring the history and context of women’s political activism in the United States, the book concentrates on the tactics and results of NCWO advocacy on five issues: gender and the Master’s Golf Tournament; voting and working the gender gap; halting plans to privatize Social Security; passage of the Affordable Care Act; and issues in global feminism. (The book is available from Temple University Press .