PAI Celebrates the Life and Leadership of Dr. Sharon Camp, PAI Emeritus Board Member, former Senior Vice President and “Mother” of Plan B

The PAI Board of Directors, leadership, and staff mourn the loss of Dr. Sharon L. Camp, our former Senior Vice President and Board member, who died on October 25 at the age of 81. Sharon was a towering figure in the global family planning and reproductive health community, though not widely known by the public, even as the legacy of her professional life directly benefited millions around the globe. Perhaps her obituary in The New York Times will provide her with a measure of public recognition she had not previously received.

As PAI President and CEO Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins said, “Sharon was a courageous leader whose life’s work changed what is possible for women and girls everywhere. We called her the mother of Plan B, the emergency contraceptive — a title that speaks not only to her groundbreaking achievement but to her insistence that women deserve options, agency, and respect. Sharon brought strategy, persistence, and a deep command of both the science and the political landscape to advance reproductive health. As the fight for reproductive rights continues, we draw strength from her clarity of purpose and her unwavering belief in justice. Sharon never lost sight of the human impact behind the policies she worked to shape, and her legacy lives on in every woman able to make her own choices because of the doors Sharon opened.”

Former PAI President J. Joseph Speidel, who served alongside Sharon, noted, “Sharon devoted her life to advancing reproductive health, rights and autonomy. She was a colleague, mentor and friend whose intellect, courage and tenacity shaped not only the institutions she led, but the direction of our field. Those of us who were privileged to work with her were in awe of her exceptional intellect, marveled at her inexhaustible work ethic, were inspired by her unshakeable commitment to improving reproductive choice, health and rights throughout the world, and greatly benefited from her ability and willingness to improve the quality of all our work at PAI. Sharon was a brilliant speaker, writer and strategic planner with sure judgement about the best ways to influence relevant political and professional decision makers. Her advocacy efforts were always based on the best available science and presented in easily understood communications.”

Sharon spent nearly 20 years at PAI, from 1975 to 1993, helping define and elevate our policy voice during a formative period for the organization. As Senior Vice President, she oversaw government relations, policy research, publications, and media engagement, strengthening PAI’s influence in Washington and internationally. She was widely recognized as one of the most effective spokespeople for international family planning programs of her generation, at a time when men’s voices dominated advocacy in support of the U.S. government’s foreign assistance program.

With encouragement from her mentor, PAI Executive Director Phyllis Piotrow, she completed her Ph.D. in international affairs from Johns Hopkins early in her tenure, frequently remarking that earning her doctorate lent her credibility in the corridors of power virtually overnight. Among her proudest achievements was translating scholarly research into publications that served as advocacy, communications, and educational tools — including one wallchart that was the subject of a David Letterman “Top 10” list.

Her two decades of leadership and advocacy at PAI informed the public and policymakers about the importance of population issues and helped bring about dramatic increases in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) budget for family planning and reproductive health programs in low- and middle-income countries. She was a prime promoter and defender of the USAID Office of Population, and on at least one occasion, a former office director credited her with saving his job.

Sharon’s leadership extended across numerous boards and organizations — from Family Health International to the International Center for Research on Women, the Global Health Council, and as founding chair of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, which was instrumental in bringing medication abortion (RU-486, “the French abortion pill”) to the United States.

Her influence was equally strong on the global stage. Immediately after leaving PAI, she played a key role — anonymously at the time — in ghostwriting the first draft of the landmark Programme of Action adopted at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. Working behind the scenes, she assisted UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Nafis Sadik in achieving the outcome document that reshaped international norms on reproductive rights and gender equality.

To the extent she was known publicly, it was as the “mother of Plan B.” In early 1997, after every major pharmaceutical company refused to take on the political risk of bringing emergency contraception to the American market, Sharon founded a small start-up — Women’s Capital Corporation — with financial backing from angel investor Robert B. Wallace, a former PAI National Chairperson. As President and CEO, she secured regulatory approval for the product and transformed access to emergency contraception in the United States and Canada. During her tenure, she also laid the groundwork for the switch from prescription to over-the-counter status in both countries. She helped found and lead the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception, contributing to the integration of emergency contraception into standard women’s health care globally. It was one of the clearest expressions of who she was — principled, strategic, and undeterred by obstacles.

Sharon’s leadership continued with profound impact at the Guttmacher Institute, where she served as President and CEO from 2003 until her retirement in 2013. Under her guidance, Guttmacher nearly doubled its annual budget, expanded its staff, and broadened its global reach. She championed the Institute’s core pillars of rigorous research, strategic policy analysis, and clear communication, ensuring that evidence remained at the center of public discourse. The global research initiatives and partnerships she established continue to strengthen reproductive health policy at home and abroad.

Sharon’s life’s work — grounded in evidence, driven by justice, and sustained by courage — advanced the rights and well-being of millions of people around the world. Her legacy lives on in the institutions she strengthened, the policies she shaped, and the generations of advocates she inspired.

On behalf of the PAI community, and with deep respect and affection, we extend our condolences to Sharon’s family, friends, and all who were touched by her remarkable life.

To learn more about Sharon’s fascinating and impactful life, check out her 2003 interview with the Population and Reproductive Health Oral History Project, part of the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College