NARAL announces new president

NARAL Pro-Choice America — one of the country's most powerful abortion-rights advocates — named Ilyse Hogue its new president Monday.

Hogue will replace Nancy Keenan, who decided to step aside for a younger leader who could mobilize women born after the Supreme Court's historic Roe v. Wade decision.

Hogue previously helped found a super-PAC that promotes campaign finance reform. She has also worked for MoveOn.org and the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be given the honor of leading this great organization,” Hogue said in a statement. “This is a critical moment to engage a new generation of young people in the conversation about what choice means in a modern age. We have a unique opportunity to ignite the pro-choice values most Americans share, solidify our longstanding pro-choice base, and expand its reach moving forward.”

Hogue's background in political advocacy could prove useful to NARAL. 

In an interview last month, Keenan said she's confident that women in the "Millennial" generation support abortion rights, but that abortion-rights opponents are more energized over the issue.

Especially as the political debate has shifted from the legality of abortion to a fight over restrictions on access, it has become harder for groups like NARAL to keep up the same level of intensity to defend the status quo.

Rosalyn Levy Jonas, chair of the board of directors for NARAL, said Hogue is the woman for the job.

“Under Ilyse’s leadership, I have no doubt that this organization will continue to stand as a leader against challenges to choice with a renewed energy and bold ideas to protect this freedom in the decades ahead," Jonas said in a statement.

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