Gainesville Women’s Health Center

On May 2, 1972, Byllye Avery, Joan Edelson, Judy Levy, and Margaret Parrish founded the Gainesville Women’s Health Center. The center provided affordable abortion services, sickle-cell anemia testing, and general preventative testing. The center also published a newspaper titled Sage-Femme that provided education on women’s health. In April 1976, the center hosted the Southeastern Women’s Health Conference, which has been referred to as “the most impressive event of the decade.” Speakers at the conference included Phyllis Chesler, Pauline Bard, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Rita Mae Brown.