Jon O'Brien
Jon O'Brien, president of Catholics for Choice (CFC), heads the leading prochoice organization that addresses sexual and reproductive rights from a standpoint of culture, faith, and morality. Through his leadership, O'Brien is committed to maintaining a visionary approach to reproductive health policy, focused on shaping and advancing the way people, especially opinion leaders and policy makers, think and feel about reproductive rights. With more than twenty years experience in the field, Mr. O'Brien is a leader in developing global strategy surrounding reproductive health and rights issues. He has worked on five continents with local advocates and activists on policy development, advocacy, and communications. Highly sought after for his expertise, O'Brien has increased communications and advocacy efficacy by working with partners around the world--including family planning associations, medical practitioners, prochoice advocates, nonprofit leaders and policy makers--to develop new ways to approach and discuss the abortion debate.
A life-long Catholic born and raised in the Republic of Ireland, Mr. O'Brien's initial involvement in reproductive rights was sparked by his reaction to the great injustices that women especially face as a result of the Catholic hierarchy's influence over public policy in the country. He began his professional career with the Irish Family Planning Association, where he worked on the front lines of reproductive health provision and was instrumental in developing the strategy that successfully engineered the downfall of Ireland's restrictive contraceptive laws. Before joining CFC over ten years ago, O'Brien also worked as program manager at the International Planned Parenthood Federation's European Bureau in London, overseeing the federation's work establishing family planning clinics in Eastern Europe during a time of immense political and social turmoil. O'Brien has been honored by the International Parliamentarians Conference on ICPD, recognized as a "Key to Choice" by Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, and received the Abby J. Leibman Pursuit of Justice Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Women's Law Center in 2007.
Do New Health Law Mandates Threaten Conscience Rights and Access to Care?
by Jon O'Brien, Catholics for Choice
November 2, 2011 - 11:14am (Print)
I firmly believe the requirements under the Affordable Care Act, and the slate of regulations being created to implement it, infringe on no one’s conscience, demand no one change her or his religious beliefs, discriminate against no man or woman, put no additional economic burden on the poor, interfere with no one’s medical decisions, compromise no one’s health -- that is, if you consider the law without refusal clauses.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Influential in Passage of Let Women Die Act 2011
by Jon O'Brien, Catholics for Choice
October 14, 2011 - 8:44am (Print)
Catholics today expressed anger about the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ role in promoting support for the so-called “Protect Life Act” (HR 358), a bill that will endanger women’s lives across the US with an extreme ban on abortion coverage while expanding permission for health professionals to refuse to provide reproductive healthcare services, even in life-threatening situations.
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