On July 11, 2019, the entire 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Trump administration’s defunding of Planned Parenthood in a 7-4 decision. Less than a week later, Planned Parenthood abruptly terminated Wen, after less than one year as CEO of the organization.
California Family Council previously reported back in February of this year how the Trump administration had finalized a rule designed to redirect as much as $60 million taxpayer funded dollars away from the nation’s largest abortion provider.
Under the previous rule, Planned Parenthood was receiving in excess of $50 million taxpayer dollars in Title X funds. Title X is a federal grant program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services that includes roughly $286 million which it distributes to family healthcare centers. Planned Parenthood receives roughly $50-$60 million of this money. The “Protect Life Rule” filed with the Office of Management and Budget and finalized in late February of 2019 will cut Planned Parenthood and other abortion provider’s access to Title X funding unless it separates abortion from the other services that it claims to provide.
This prompted a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood, and the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals originally blocked the Trump administration from going forward with defunding Planned Parenthood while the case is still being considered. However, on July 11th, the entire 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Trump administration’s defunding in a 7-4 decision.
Shortly after the decision was handed down, Wen – who was still CEO of Planned Parenthood at the time – called the action by the 9th Circuit “devastating news.” Days later it seems she was unexpectedly, but not coincidentally, terminated. Shortly after her termination, Wen issued a statement, stating her and Planned Parenthood parted ways over major “philosophical differences:”
According to Yahoo, Wen parted ways with Planned Parenthood because the organization’s radical pro abortion stance:
Nonetheless, Wen has portrayed her departure as driven by being insufficiently pro-abortion, which Wen reinforced in a New York Times op-ed posted on Friday.
“I believe abortion is about health care, not politics,” Wen wrote. “Many of my colleagues disagreed.”
“Wen tried to make Planned Parenthood what its always pretended to be: healthcare focused, a resource for all women, doing abortion politics on the side,” tweeted Matt Whitlock, a Republican policy adviser. “She didn’t get the memo it’s really the opposite: abortion politics with a tiny side of healthcare.”
Wen did say in a tweet that she was engaged in good faith negotiations with Planned Parenthood about leaving the organization, when she was unexpectedly fired. So far, Planned Parenthood has not denied her claim. Wen was the organization’s first doctor to hold the position in over fifty years.
