US abortion giant Planned Parenthood sacked its president after she attempted to prioritise activities other than aborting unborn babies.
Although Dr Leana Wen said she wanted to “normalize abortion” and that it was part of her company’s “core mission”, the Board fired her after holding a “secret meeting” in July.
A former Planned Parenthood manager, who now campaigns against abortion, said the firing was evidence that the organisation is focused on abortion rather than health care.
‘Political entity’
Writing in The New York Times following her removal as president, Dr Wen said she wanted to promote a “wide range of policies that affect women’s health and public health”.
But “there was immediate criticism that I did not prioritize abortion enough”.
Dr Wen said the team she brought in “faced daily internal opposition”, with further challenges when they sought to change the idea that Planned Parenthood was “just a progressive political entity”.
She concluded her article by saying she continued to “care deeply” about Planned Parenthood.
‘Not pro-life’
Abby Johnson – who left Planned Parenthood after assisting in a 13-week abortion – said Dr Wen had witnessed the reality of the organisation.
“Forget health care, this is about abortion, which to Planned Parenthood is a political issue.”
Johnson added: “I don’t expect that Wen is pro-life or even anything that resembles pro-life. I wasn’t either when I first walked away from Planned Parenthood.”
But, she added, the possibility of Dr Wen changing was “so much greater” now that she was away from the abortion giant.