Thursday, March 28, 2024

Ex-Planned Parenthood President Says Group Trying to Silence Her

Twomonths after being fired from the organization, former Planned Parenthoodpresident Dr. Leana Wen has accused the abortion giant of trying to buyher silence.

Wen,who recently announced that she is pregnant with her second child, is still inthe process of negotiating her severance package. She has accused PlannedParenthood of threatening to withhold health insurance and severance payoutunless she agrees to sign an additional confidentiality agreement.

These accusations were aired in a leaked letter Wen wrote to Planned Parenthood’s board of directors. “No amount of money can ever buy my integrity and my commitment to the patients I serve,” she stated.

Melanie Newman, a senior vice president for communications at Planned Parenthood, disputed Wen’s accusation:

The attorneys representing the board have made every good faith effort to amicably part from Dr. Wen, and are disappointed that they have been unable to reach a suitable resolution regarding her exit package.

Wenwas fired in July after she made continuous efforts to orient PlannedParenthood away from abortions and toward healthcare. She has stated that shebelieves de-emphasizing abortion is the best way to “protect it,” but that“there is a vocal minority” of the organization’s staff and board “who prefer astridently political, abortion-first philosophy.”

Shealso penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post discussing her miscarriage. This piece seemedto anger Planned Parenthood leadership, especially since she repeatedlyhumanized her unborn baby throughout her story.

PlannedParenthood is contractually obligatedto provide severance and continued health coverage to Wen. She argues thatthreatening to withhold such contractually-guaranteed provisions is“unethical.” Wen even compared the organization to the Trump administration’ssupposed gag order:

It is deeply hypocritical [that Planned Parenthood] would attempt to enforce a gag order on its immediate past President/CEO while fighting the Trump administration’s gag rule on Title X providers.

Planned Parenthood spokesmen state that the severance package will be finalized in the coming days.

Wen announced on Thursday that she now holds a visiting professor position at George Washington University. Replacing her at Planned Parenthood is the new acting president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson. Johnson formerly served on the boards of both the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Photo credit: American Life League via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0

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