Fran Avallone

Fran Avallone (born Frances Janet Weinstein; 1937–2003) was an American abortion rights advocate. She was director of New Jersey Right to Choose as well as Choice New Jersey, a coalition of 30 abortion rights groups.

Biography

Frances Janet Weinstein was born in 1937 in Brooklyn, New York. The experience motivated her to advocate for women's reproductive rights. Avallone founded New Jersey Right to Choose in 1975. She served as its longtime director, growing the organization to 7000 members. In 1978, she initiated litigation contesting a 1975 state law that had banned the use of state Medicaid funding for abortion. In 1982 the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in favor of the lawsuit, overturning the ban in Right to Choose v. Byrne.

Avallone died December 10, 2003, of lung cancer at her Los Angeles home. She was survived by two children and a stepchild.