Jefferson, Mildred

Surgeon and prominent opponent of abortion, Mildred Jefferson was born in Pittsburg, Texas, in 1926, the only child of Millard and Gutherie Jefferson. She earned a bachelor's degree from Texas College in Tyler, Texas, a masters degree from Tufts, and was the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. She later was a surgeon at Boston University Medical Center and a professor at the university's medical school.

A founder of the National Right to Life Committee, Jefferson served as its president (1975-1978), was a founder and director of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, and was active in the Value of Life Committee of Massachusetts and Black Americans for Life. She ran unsuccessfully several times as a Republican candidate for Congress. Jefferson, who was divorced, had no children. She died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2010.