Carolyn Westhoff, MD

Recipient of the 2010 William K. Rashbaum, MD, Abortion Provider Award

Dr. Westhoff is medical director of the New York Presbyterian Hospital Family Planning Clinic, professor of epidemiology and population and family health, and professor of obstetrics and gynecology, all at Columbia University. She is also director of Columbia’s Family Planning Fellowship. In her 24 years at Columbia, she has expanded the hospital’s minimal abortion services into a robust program of patient care, training, and research.

Dr. Westhoff was one of the lead investigators who brought mifepristone to the United States and advocated publicly for its use. A lifelong activist and founding member of PRCH, she was a plaintiff in the case against the federal ban on so-called “partial-birth” abortion.

Dr. Westhoff has mentored hundreds of physicians and serves on the board of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.