Jessica Arons

Director of the Women's Health and Rights Program

High-resolution image

Jessica Arons is the Director of the Women's Health and Rights Program at American Progress and a member of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative. Prior to joining American Progress, she worked at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, the labor and employment law firm of James & Hoffman, the Supreme Court of Virginia, the White House, and the 1996 Pennsylvania Democratic Coordinated Campaign. She currently serves on the boards of the DC Abortion Fund and the Virginia ACLU.

Jessica is an honors graduate of Brown University and William and Mary School of Law. At William and Mary, Jessica was an associate editor of the William and Mary Law Review, managing editor of the William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law, and a board member of the William and Mary Public Service Fund. She has been seen on MSNBC, Fox News, and ABC News; heard on Clear Channel radio; and featured in The Nation, Politico, HuffingtonPost, ScienceProgress, and RHRealityCheck. Her publications include "More Than a Choice: A Progressive Vision for Reproductive Health and Rights" and "Future Choices: Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the Law."

Publications: “Sick and Tired: Women's Health and the Workforce,” in A Woman’s Nation (forthcoming); “Moving the Movement,” Democracy: A Journal of Ideas (2009); “Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights: A New Opportunity for Leadership,” in Change for America, Center for American Progress Action Fund (2008); “Lifetime Losses: The Career Wage Gap,” Center for American Progress Action Fund (2008); “Worse for Women: An Analysis of the Effects Senator McCain's Health Plan Would Have on Women's Access to Health Care,” Center for American Progress Action Fund (2008); “Future Choices: Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the Law,” Center for American Progress (2007); “More Than A Choice: A Progressive Vision for Reproductive Health and Rights,” Center for American Progress (2006).

Expertise: Reproductive Health and Rights, Contraception, Sexuality Education, Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Privacy Rights, HPV Vaccines, HIV/AIDS, LGBT Rights, and Constitutional Law