Simone Veil, a survivor of Nazi death camps and the iconic European feminist politician, died at the age of 89 on June 30, 2017. A two-time Health Minister, Veil was best known in France for leading the heated battle to legalize abortion in the 1970s. France’s abortion rights law is still known four decades later as the “Loi Veil”.  In 1979, Veil became the first woman to head the European Parliament. She served as president until 1982 and remained in the Parliament until 1993.