Planned Parenthood has managed to cement itself as an institution in American politics and a powerful voice in the debate over reproductive rights. It’s become so prominent, conservatives use the group as a convenient target for their anti-abortion agenda, while liberal politicians often clamor for an endorsement from the organization’s political wing to give them a boost in their elections.
For the last 12 years, Planned Parenthood was helmed by Cecile Richards, the former deputy chief of staff to Nancy Pelosi and daughter of former Texas governor Ann Richards, but last week Richards stepped down and announced ER doctor Leana Wen would be taking her place. In picking Wen, a physician and former faculty member at Harvard Medical School, some felt the group was trying to pivot from being the torch bearer in the debate around abortion, and focus more on its goal of expanding affordable healthcare to women.
Despite Wen’s appointment, Art Caplan, director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, doubts the group will be able to shed its political skin so easily.
“Planned Parenthood is tied, in the minds of pro-lifers, to abortion, despite the HPV screenings, cervical cancer screenings, the prenatal visits, and the whole kit and caboodle [of services they offer],” Caplan said on Boston Public Radio Wednesday. “I have to say this is trench warfare. Everyone is dug in, and I don’t think [Wen’s appointment] is going to change any minds on the pro-life side about the evil they see Planned Parenthood to be.”
Wen, for her part, has made no mention of moving the group away from politics; in fact, when she was Baltimore's health commissioner, she convinced the city to sue the Trump administration for cutting funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs in several cities across the U.S.
“This grant allowed us to have comprehensive reproductive health education in middle schools and high schools throughout our city,” Wen told CNN last August. “We see it as being irresponsible to cut this program.”
Even if Wen is hesitant to step into politics, Caplan says the nature of the current political climate is going to make it impossible for her, and Planned Parenthood, not to be a part of the national conversation surrounding abortion.
“[Abortion] is the driving issue on the Supreme Court Kavanaugh confirmation,” Caplan said. “Basically, Trump has said to pro-lifers, ‘I’m going to get you a court that doesn’t like Roe v Wade. I’m going to get you a socially conservative court, and I’m going to get you a court that doesn’t like Planned Parenthood.’”
This article has been updated.
