Planned Parenthood names new president

Planned Parenthood named Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana Wen as its new president Wednesday, replacing Cecile Richards, who stepped down earlier this year. Wen will take over the top leadership position of the nation’s largest abortion provider on Nov. 12.

Wen calls the perceived threat to women’s health “the single biggest public health catastrophe of our time,” and in a letter to friends and colleagues she claimed, “Planned Parenthood has done more for women’s health than any other organization.”

The 35-year-old Chinese immigrant becomes the first physician to lead Planned Parenthood in 50 years. She served as Baltimore’s health commissioner for four years, where she helped spearhead the fight against changes to Title X that would keep federal money from flowing to abortion centers, or centers that provided referrals for abortions. She also won a suit against the Trump administration for cutting funds allotted to teen pregnancy prevention programs.

“Putting a doctor in the presidency of Planned Parenthood won’t change the fact that the overall mission of that organization is ensuring that many lives are ended at a huge profit to the nation’s number one abortion vendor,” Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins said in a statement. “Abortion is not healthcare, and women deserve better than what Planned Parenthood wants to sell them.”

Wen is married and has a 1-year-old son.