Planned Parenthood has a doctor as its new president but continues to carry its scandal-plagued reputation as the country’s No. 1 abortion provider.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) announced Wednesday (Sept. 12) the selection of Leana Wen as the sixth president in its century-long history. Wen has been health commissioner of the city of Baltimore for the last 3 1/2 years and becomes the first physician to head the organization in nearly 50 years.
Wen, who succeeds Cecile Richards after her 12-year tenure, takes over Planned Parenthood three years after undercover videos were first released that provided evidence the organization was trading in body parts from aborted babies. The investigation by the Center of Medical Progress (CMP) prompted congressional examination of the organization and a reported investigation by the Department of Justice, as well as renewed federal defunding efforts.
Planned Parenthood has continued to receive more than $500 million a year in government funds despite the reports and investigations as well as its record of performing more than 300,000 abortions annually.
Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore said of PPFA’s new president, “How sad it is that someone with as inspiring a life story and as notable a health care record as has Dr. Leana Wen would lead now an organization devoted to tearing apart human dignity and the sanctity of life. The profit-driven abortion industry preys upon vulnerable women and their voiceless children.
“Dr. Wen’s family immigrated to the United States after the Tiananmen Square massacre,” Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said in written comments to Baptist Press. “One would think that seeing the complete disregard for human life, born and unborn, by the Chinese government would serve as a word of warning as to where such callousness leads. One can hope that one day Dr. Wen will see a change of mind and heart on the value of human life.”
Messengers to the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention meeting adopted a resolution calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood at all levels of government and denouncing the organization’s “immoral agenda and practices.”
David Daleiden, leader of CMP’s undercover video project, cited Wen’s leadership of “radical transparency” initiatives regarding doctors’ views on issues such as abortion.
“In this spirit, Planned Parenthood and its new president should immediately disclose how many abortions Dr. Wen has performed, whether she will perform abortions as Planned Parenthood president and up to what gestational age, and if she supports contracts for baby body parts like the ones the biggest Planned Parenthood affiliates entered into under Richards’ leadership,” Daleiden said in a written statement.
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Source: Baptist Press
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