Planned Parenthood’s Termination of Leana Wen Reveals Deep Internal Divisions, by Peter Jesserer Smith

Wen’s health care agenda was at variance with the board of directors’ preference for political advocacy.

By Peter Jesserer Smith, National Catholic Register,  7/26/19

NEW YORK — Dr. Leana Wen came on board last September as Planned Parenthood’s first physician CEO and president with a vision of transforming Planned Parenthood into a mainstream health-care provider that would offer abortion amid a host of comprehensive services. That, Wen believed, would secure Planned Parenthood’s long-term future.

Just eight months on the job, Planned Parenthood’s two boards — Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund — met July 16 in an emergency session and voted to terminate her leadership. After she refused to resign, Wen was fired that same day.

Her sudden departure revealed Planned Parenthood’s deep, internal divisions between those who believe the abortion provider is a health-care organization and those who believe Planned Parenthood’s mission is primarily to advocate for abortion. The boards’ emergency meeting — held just one day after the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Protect Life Rule — showed abortion activists have won the day within Planned Parenthood. Wen cited these “philosophical differences” in a memo she sent to colleagues, which she also published on her Twitter feed. ….

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