PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Women’s Hall of Fame has been celebrating and honoring accomplishments of Maine women since 1990.
This year, astronaut Jessica Meir and women’s reproductive rights advocate Julia "Judy" Kahrl will join the long running list of names.
Kahrl is the trailblazer behind Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights or GRR! an organization that works to secure younger generations access to reproductive rights, justice, and health care through education and advocacy. Kahrl said the idea came a decade ago, when abortion rights were being challenged across the nation.
“It is a group that was formed in 2013 because a number of us were objecting to the restrictions on access to abortion,” Kahrl said. “We didn't think it was right that legislators had laws to regulate a woman's own power to make her own decisions about her body.”
Kahrl has been passionate about women’s reproductive rights her entire life. She credits that passion to her parents who encouraged her to give back and do for others.
“I grew up with almost this directive that you really should do something to make the world a better place and it was beyond family,” Kahrl said. “So, it was just kind of in my DNA, I think.”
She said it was important for her and others to stand up for freedoms her generation had fought for.
“It's not who does the work, it's that the work gets done that's important,” Kahrl said, quoting another grandmother within the organization. “So, that's what I've thought of all the time. It's not about me being recognized or anything like that, it was just, 'Get the work done.' There's work to be done, and women are in need.”
Also being inducted to the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame is NASA astronaut and Caribou native Jessica Meir.
“It is absolutely an honor to be among these really prestigious names and women who have broken all those glass ceilings and pushed these boundaries further and further to improve lives for women and for society really in Maine and all around the planet.” Meir said.
Meir has dedicated her life to science and our solar system.
She made history in 2019 for taking part in the first all-female spacewalk. Meir said she never imagined making the cut for such a prestigious list of women, but she hopes her story inspires future generations to follow their dreams and maybe, even reach for the stars.
“Make sure that you're following your passion. I say that all the time, but it's so true. If you're not following the one thing that you're so passionate about that you love and that drives you, you probably won't be able to excel at it,” Meir said. “More importantly, you probably won't be happy in doing so. So, find that passion and then recognize that you do need to work hard. You need to put the work in, and you do need to be able to take a risk and not be afraid to take that risk and not be afraid to fail. That is all part of it. I have failed certainly many times myself. And that's how we really learn the valuable lessons and end up succeeding in the end.”
The 2022 Maine Women's Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held this weekend at the Farber Forum in Jewett Hall on the University of Maine at Augusta campus at 1 p.m.