Terry O'Neill

Terry O'Neill (born c. 1953) is an American feminist, civil rights attorney, and professor. She was the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 2009 to 2017, as well as president of the NOW Foundation and chair of the NOW Political Action Committees.

Education and family O'Neill graduated from Rosemary Hall (now Choate Rosemary Hall), and holds a bachelor's degree in French with distinction from Northwestern University and a J.D. degree magna cum laude from the Tulane University Law School. She taught feminist legal theory and international women's rights law, corporate law and legal ethics at Tulane and the UC Davis School of Law. She is a past president of Louisiana NOW, Maryland NOW and New Orleans NOW and member of the National Racial Diversity Committee. The election was very close—won by eight votes, led by Latifa Lyles, a 33-year-old African American who emphasized youth, diversity and new technology.

Agenda The Washington Post said she "campaigned to reenergize what she called an outsider strategy of 'tapping into energy and outrage' felt by grass-roots feminists across the country over 'the ground we lost' during the Bush administration".

She was strongly critical of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which attempted to place limits on taxpayer-funding of abortions (except in the cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother) in the context of the November 2009 Affordable Care Act. The amendment was ultimately not included in the bill.

O'Neill has said the struggle against transphobia is a feminist issue.