Susan Hill

Susan Hill — The national women's rights advocate and the owner of several abortion clinics around the country died of breast cancer. Ms. Hill, who made her home in Raleigh, N.C., was 61.

Ms. Hill focused on establishing clinics in rural areas, where women had no access to abortion services, and opened more clinics than anyone else in the United States, sometimes drawing 1,000 protesters at a time. She sued protesters 34 times for blocking entrances and physically preventing women from going into the facilities.

"She's probably the toughest person I ever knew," said her older brother Dan Hill, who lives in Durham, N.C. "She's the only person I knew who wore a bulletproof vest to work or was suppphilly.comosed to wear one to work. People really wanted to kill her, and she never flinched."

In 2007, Ms. Hill received the Nancy Susan Reynolds award from North Carolina for public advocacy in the face of personal risk. She also received the North Carolina Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger Award and the Raleigh National Organization for Women award.

stltoday and the state (south carilina) + philly.com