Longtime pro-life advocate Dr. Charmaine Yoest has been appointed to be Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, Public Affairs. In response, Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser offered the following comment:
“Charmaine Yoest is one of the pro-life movement’s most articulate and powerful communicators. As the former president and CEO of Americans United for Life, she led groundbreaking efforts to advance pro-life, pro-woman legislation at the state level. She is perfectly suited to take on this role at HHS and it is no surprise to see President Trump once again appoint a strong, pro-life woman to his team. The fact that Yoest will be replacing Kevin Griffis, who now works for Planned Parenthood, is another indication of the dramatic change we’ve seen in Washington since the election of President Trump. This is a new era for the pro-life movement and our fight to protect unborn children and their mothers from the horror of abortion.”
Dr. Yoest is a Senior Fellow at American Values in Washington, D.C. She earned a B.A. from Wheaton College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American Government from the University of Virginia, where she received Mellon, Olin, Bradley and Kohler fellowships. She served as the Project Director of a national study funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation which focused on paid parental leave in academia. Dr. Yoest previously served as President and CEO of Americans United for Life, a public interest law firm. She began her career serving in the White House under Ronald Reagan in the Office of Presidential Personnel. She also served as a Trump for President surrogate and as a Senior Advisor to the 2008 Huckabee for President campaign. Dr. Yoest and her husband are the parents of five children and live in Virginia.
