Ms. Wattleton attended the Ohio State University where the earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1964, setting her foot in the right direction for the accomplishments …show more content…
During the beginning of her educational and professional endeavors, abortion was illegal in the United States. It actually was not until 1973 that abortion was legalized by the passage of Roe v. Wade, a number of years after the began her work. In the midst of the times, however, abortions were still occurring. They were either being preformed by illegal means or women were trying to abort their fetuses themselves, which is an incredible risk for the woman and the child she may or may not bear. Wattleton recalled a case in which a teenage patient died because she tried to induce her own abortion using a combination of Lysol and bleach. This lethal combination caused her kidneys to fail and she died. This, unfortunately, was not an isolated case. Countless other women had caused great harm to their bodies or lost their lives because they had tried to induce abortions by themselves. It was encounters like these that made Wattleton passionate about supporting the general health, rights, and reproductive care to women. She wanted women to have access to controceptions, education about their health and reproduction, and options available throughout their