Dr. Mildred ‘Millie’ Hanson was the first MD I ever worked with – my first job in the field in 1989 was as a staffer at Planned Parenthood on Ford Parkways in St. Paul, where she was the medical director. A feisty Norwegian and a fierce advocate. She did the first abortion I ever saw and I gently excused myself from the room mid-procedure and fainted in the hallway. 

She was forward thinking, one of the first women doing work in abortion care in the country. She is the one who discovered laminaria when she was visiting Japan and she brought back a suitcase of it the USA to introduce to the NAF community here for cervical prep. 

She was an expert technician in abortion care, especially 2nd trimester abortion. Everyone still to this day learns the “Hanson” technique when they are training. She was outspoken, super smart, a leader, a spitfire and a great example to many of us. We give thanks for her example, for her making trails for many of us to follow in and for her work with thousands of women over her many years in the field. 

Amy Hagstrom Miller

President & CEO of Whole Woman’s Health