Biography of Speakers

Barbara L. Lyons
Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life

• Graduate of Creighton University, Omaha, NE, with a B.S. in Mathematics
• Pro-life advocate from 1975 to present
  
  
• 2000 recipient of the Spirit of Pius Award from St. Pius X parish of Milwaukee
  
  
• 2003 recipient of the Council Service Award from the Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities
  
  
• 2005 recipient of the Vatican II Award for Service to Society from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee
  
  
• 2005 recipient of the Cardinal O’Connor Pro-Life Award from Legatus International
  
  
• Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life from 1987 to present
  
  
• Legislative Director of Wisconsin Right to Life from 1977 to 198
  
  
• President of Milwaukee Chapter of Wisconsin Right to Life from 1975 to 1977
  
  
• Founder of the Nightingale Alliance, an international information resource in opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia
  
  
• Speaker and author with expertise on all pro-life subjects from abortion to embryonic stem cell research; participant in hundreds of media interviews each year for the past 31 years
  
  
• Member of Milwaukee Chapter of Legatus from 2000 to present
  
  
• Member of Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities from 1987 to 2003 as an appointee of Governor Tommy Thompson
  
  
• Chair of the Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities from 2001 to 2003
  
  
• Member of the Majella Society Board of Directors from 2004 to present
  
  
• Member of the Board of Directors of the National Legal Center for the Medically
  
  
• Dependent and Disabled from 2002 to present
  
  
• Member of Advisory Board of Adoption Information Center from 2000 to 2002
  
  
• Member of Wisconsin Birth to Three Council from 1989 to 1996 as an appointee of Governor Tommy Thompso
  
  
• Member of St. Camillus Adult Day Care Advisory Committee from 1995 to 1998
  
  
• Parish Coordinator of meal program in Milwaukee's inner city from 1977 to present
  
  
• Lector from 1980 to present
  
  
• Member of Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee from 1991 to present
  
  
• Married; mother of four; mother-in-law of three; "nana" of three granddaughters

ACHIEVEMENTS OF WISCONSIN RIGHT TO LIFE

• Wisconsin is one of only seven states in the nation which can immediately shut down abortion clinics once Roe v. Wade is overturned
  
  
• 1974 enactment of a law to provide conscience protection for medical professionals
  
  
• 1978 enactment of a law to prohibit the use of state taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions
  
  
• 1985 enactment of a law to require reporting of abortions
  
  
• 1992 enactment of a law to require parental consent prior to a minor girl’s abortion
  
  
• 1996 enactment of a law to require that women seeking abortions be given complete information with a 24 hour waiting period before the abortion can be performed
  
  
• 1998 enactment of a law which allows criminal charges to brought for death or injury to an unborn child if a pregnant woman is attacked
  
  
• 1998 enactment of a law prohibiting the performance of partial-birth abortions
  
  
• 1998 enactment of a law protecting unborn children placed at risk due to use of drugs and alcohol by the mother
  
  
• 1998 enactment of a series of laws to improve adoption
  
  
• 2000 enactment of a law to create a safe haven for newborn
  
  
• 2003 enactment of a law to protect infants born alive following an abortion
  
  
• 2003 and 2005 passage of a bill to provide more extensive protection for medical professionals. Twice vetoed by Governor Doyle
  
  
• 2005 passage of a bill to ban all human cloning. Vetoed by Governor Doyle
  
  
• 2005 passage of a bill to facilitate the collection of umbilical cord blood which is rich with adult stem cells
  
  
• 2005 passage of a bill to require that a woman seeking an abortion after 20 weeks be told that her unborn child will experience pain from the abortion procedure. Vetoed by Governor Doyle
  
  
• 2005 passage of a budget provision to prioritize counties instead of Planned Parenthood to receive family planning monies. Line-item vetoed by Governor Doyle
  
  
• Successful defense of Wisconsin Woman’s Right to Know Act and Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in the federal district court and Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  
  
• Abortions decrease in Wisconsin from a high of 21,754 in 1980 to 9,943 in 2004. The 2004 number, abortion ratio and rate are the lowest ever recorded in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has one of the lowest abortion rates in the country
  
  
• Extensive outreach utilizing television and radio ads which reach millions of Wisconsin residents in their own homes each year
  
  
• Pro-life attitudes of the Wisconsin adult general public have reached as high as 67% who believe abortion should not be legal except in the most extreme circumstances
  
  
• Outreach to youth online to approximately 50,000 youth annually
  
  • Extensive youth pro-life leadership training using conferences and summer camps
  
  
• Development of Teens for Life groups statewide
  
  
• College grants awarded to begin or continue pro-life groups on college campuses
  
  
• Extensive outreach to local communities through statewide local chapters
  
  
• National leader in providing education and strategy to combat assisted suicide and euthanasia
  
  
• National leader in providing information on embryonic stem cell research, adult stem cell research, and cloning
  
  
• Maintenance of the most comprehensive and informative web site in opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia
  
  
• Pro-life majorities in both houses of the Wisconsin legislature with candidates receiving major assistance from the Wisconsin Right to Life Political Action Committee
  
  
• 2005 acceptance by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a Wisconsin Right to Life challenge to the McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform law. This case is still pending, having been unanimously remanded by the Supreme Court back to the District Court

Susan Armacost
Legislative Director of Wisconsin Right to Life

Susan Armacost is the Legislative/PAC Director for Wisconsin Right to Life, a position she has held for fifteen years. In that capacity, she is responsible for the state and federal legislative programs for Wisconsin Right to Life and for the election activities of the Wisconsin Right to Life Political Action Committee.

Prior to coming to Wisconsin Right to Life, Susan worked in the social work field and was active in numerous right-to-life activities both here in Wisconsin and in Maryland, where she was the co-director of a crisis pregnancy center.

Susan holds a Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from UW-Milwaukee and is a member of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.

Active in a number of church /community endeavors as well as several hobbies and interests, she is the mother of three grown children, Robert, Andrew and Kathleen and the grandmother of Natalie, Ava, Lyndsey and Audrey (considered by their grandmother to be the most adorable grandchildren ever).

Mary Klaver
Legislative Legal Counsel of Wisconsin Right to Life

Mary Klaver has served as the Legislative Legal Counsel for Wisconsin Right to Life since 1987. She is responsible for legal research, assisting legislators in the drafting of legislation, preparing legislative summaries, and testifying at public hearings on legislation promoted or opposed by Wisconsin Right to Life.

After graduating from law school in 1975, Mary spent seven years as a staff attorney for General Electric Medical Systems in Waukesha. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the St. Thomas More Lawyer’s Society of Wisconsin from 1992 to 2001.

Mary is a native of Ohio where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Math from Ohio State University. Before coming to Marquette University Law School for her law degree, she received a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from Kansas State University.

Mary is very active at her church. She founded the Respect Life Committee and has served on the Human Concerns Committee and the Parish Council. Mary and her husband Bob, who is also an attorney, live in Milwaukee and have four wonderful daughters in their early 20s.