Planned Parenthood's new president vows to fight the Trump administration's latest proposal and reflects on her health care career.
"We are at a time when everything is at stake… If we don’t fight and we don’t lead the charge… then who is going to?”
The Trump administration has made no secret of its plans to roll back access to abortion. One of the key figures attempting to stop them: Leana Wen, a physician tapped to be Planned Parenthood's new leader last fall.
Wen joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to rebut President Trump's latest efforts to limit abortion access, explain her vision for Planned Parenthood and share reflections on her fast-rising career.
MENTIONED ON THE SHOW
Wen was tapped in September 2018 as the new leader of Planned Parenthood — the first doctor to run the organization in decades.
BuzzFeed profiled Wen and her vision for Planned Parenthood, although Wen later took issue with the headline.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of the prominent anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, appeared on POLITICO's podcast last year. In a separate episode, POLITICO reporters traced the fight over abortion access.
(Interested in more perspectives on abortion? Check our archives for interviews with NARAL's Ilyse Hogue, Equity Forward's Mary Alice Carter and other prominent figures.)
Wen's four-year stint as Baltimore health commissioner attracted significant attention and was widely praised.
Baltimore's notorious for its health care disparities, which have contributed to broader unrest, as Dan wrote in 2015.
Wen and other city health commissioners sued the Trump administration over its abrupt cancellation of teen pregnancy prevention funds.