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| Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Photo Credit: Crossroads Foundation / Flickr |
Leana Wen, the previous president of Planned Parenthood, says that her firing last July was because she wanted to make the organization less political and focus more on women's health care than the abortion argument. The argument makes sense, given that McGill previously worked on the board of Planned Parenthood's PAC. If the organization really wanted someone whose motives were to fight political fights more than improve the lives of women, they found a person for that.
The hiring may also come in response to backlash Planned Parenthood is facing for its racist origins. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was a eugenicist who believed that convincing African Americans to abort their children would be beneficial because she did not want their population to increase. Despite this, Planned Parenthood had awards and buildings named after their founder. The organization has stopped giving Margaret Sanger awards, is renaming buildings, and recently fired the Planned Parenthood of New York CEO after over 350 former and current employees accused her of racist behavior. Because Johnson is an African American woman, the announcement can serve at least in part to save the company's face during its current PR mess.
