Former coach speaks to the Rover on Republican policies, abortion access
Ann “Muffet” McGraw, former head coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team, appeared at a fundraiser for Democrat and abortion activist Heidi Beidinger in July 2024. In an interview with the Rover, McGraw spoke about her political advocacy for abortion issues and the importance of free speech at Notre Dame.
Heidi Beidinger, Associate Professor in the Eck Institute for Global Health and Director of The Masters of Science in Global Health at Notre Dame, is running for Indiana State Representative as a Democrat. Beidinger, former President of the St. Joseph County Board of Health, is campaigning against incumbent Republican Dale Devon for the 5th District.
On their website, Planned Parenthood endorses Beidinger, citing her “[pledge] to keep fighting for reproductive freedom in the Indiana General Assembly.” Planned Parenthood provides a link to Beidinger’s campaign website under the instruction, “Vote by November 8th to send Beidinger to the House!”
Beidinger and her team have been vocal about their opposition to Indiana Republicans and the GOP. In November 2022, Beidinger’s Communications Director tweeted, “I’ve been thinking and saying this for the last [two] years. It feels gross to say, but it’s possible enough [Republicans] died from Covid to really change the totals at the district level …” In April 2023, Beidinger tweeted a photo that said, “Vote Every F—ing Republican Out.” Both Beidinger and her Communications Director deleted their tweets shortly after.
On her website, Beidinger names the “Freedom to Be Healthy” as a core value, stating, “Because of the cruel and deadly Republican ban on abortion … Indiana is one of the most dangerous places in America to be pregnant.” Speaking to the Rover, McGraw stated that she values Beidinger’s position, saying, “[S]he is going to fight for women’s right to choose. And that is something that, for me, is the most important thing that I’m looking at in a candidate.”
On July 29, 2024, McGraw appeared at a fundraiser for Beidinger’s campaign. In a Facebook post the following day, Beidinger expressed her appreciation for McGraw’s endorsement: “I am humbled and honored to receive Muffet’s support. She spoke about what’s at stake in this election and how important local and state offices are to maintaining a democracy.”
Beidinger did not respond to requests for comment.
Hired in 1987, McGraw coached the Irish women’s basketball team for 33 seasons and retired officially in April of 2020. As head coach, McGraw led the Fighting Irish to two National Championships, seven championship games, nine Final Four appearances, and 67 wins in the NCAA Tournament. Overall, McGraw boasts over 930 career wins and has set the record for the most wins by any single-sport coach in Notre Dame history.
Last December, the university unveiled a statue of McGraw outside of Purcell Pavilion, cementing her status as an icon in Notre Dame sports history.
Since her retirement from coaching, McGraw has worked for ESPN as a women’s basketball analyst. McGraw has also remained connected to Notre Dame, where she taught a class in the Mendoza College of Business called “Sports Leadership: How Leaders Make Teams Flourish” in 2020. Just this month, McGraw was back on campus to participate in the inauguration festivities for Notre Dame president Father Robert Dowd, C.S.C.
In an interview with the Rover, McGraw expressed appreciation for Notre Dame’s values, saying, “[Y]ou look at your core values, and you talk about things like honesty, accountability, trust, and those are … important values, not just for our program, but for everybody at Notre Dame.”
McGraw is no stranger to expressing her personal values, particularly online. According to McGraw, her interest in politics started after the 2016 presidential election. “I think when Trump got elected, that’s when everything changed. … I needed to do what I could to fight for our democracy, to fight for women,” McGraw said. “I tweeted a lot more about politics. I watched a lot more. I studied it, I read about it. … I tried to really understand what was going on.”
McGraw’s feed on X (formerly Twitter) features many posts encouraging followers to vote against Republican candidates. On August 3, 2022, McGraw tweeted, “… Tone deaf old white men in the GOP were surprised by the power of women mobilizing to protect their rights. Women [are] the majority in the U.S. & WE WILL be heard in November. #VoteBlue [sic].”
In a November 3, 2022 tweet, McGraw stated, “Republicans have not done one thing to help Americans who are struggling. They voted against virtually every bill to fix the economy [because] if they voted to fix it, they wouldn’t have anyone to blame for it. What do they stand for besides taking away women’s rights?”
One issue that McGraw is particularly vocal about is access to abortion: “My one, number one hot-button issue is women’s rights and women’s freedom and women’s right to choose,” McGraw said to the Rover. “[T]he Republicans are trying to take away IVF [in vitro fertilization], they’re going to come after contraception. They are already … especially in Indiana, with the strictest rules on abortion.”
Remarking on her support for abortion access, McGraw said, “You know, I always tell people, you want to have five kids? What if the government came in and said, ‘You can only have two, that’s the new rule’? … They’re looking at the way that we’re overpopulated, they’re going to say, ‘Nope, you can only have two.’ So, how do you feel now about your right to choose? Everybody deserves the right to make decisions about their own body.”
Beidinger is not the first politician that McGraw has publicly supported. In August, McGraw tweeted a photo of her and Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow, calling McMorrow “exactly the type of leader we need to move us forward.” McMorrow is a Democrat and Notre Dame alumna who spoke at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
As she continues to advocate for pro-choice policies, McGraw says that she is grateful for Notre Dame’s emphasis on free expression: “I think it’s great that Notre Dame is a place that’s really open to debate. … I’ve never had anybody say anything about anything that I’ve tweeted about pro-choice. … It’s great that I can work at a school that has certain views on certain things, but you can disagree with them …”
Haley Garecht is a junior studying political science, constitutional studies, and Irish studies. She’s currently celebrating the Phillies clinching their playoff berth by listening to “Philadelphia Freedom” on repeat. Send her other Philly-themed song suggestions at hgarecht@nd.edu
Photo Credit: Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Instagram
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