One unanticipated side effect of the political moment we are currently living through is that it has made all participants very honest — particularly Democrats and leftists.
The party that, for years, eye-rolled at allegations of socialism is now practically being run by a self-identified Democratic Socialist. Democratic candidates for president are open and eager to eliminate private health insurance, embracing a position even further to the left than systems in the United Kingdom and Canada. All 10 candidates in the second Democrat debate last month went on record supporting open borders. And Bernie Sanders earnestly believes that most Americans actually want to pay more in taxes.
In just the latest episode of truth-telling this week, Planned Parenthood is finally giving up its long-running charade as a women’s health organization and is admitting that it is merely a for-profit abortion advocacy group.
The organization publicly dismissed its president over “philosophical differences.” Those differences, according to a letter posted by the ousted head, Dr. Leana Wen, stem from the fact that Wen apparently thought she was working for a women’s healthcare organization that also performed abortions — rather than an abortion advocacy organization with an overtly political agenda.
“I came to Planned Parenthood to run a national healthcare organization,” Wen said in her resignation letter. “The new board has determined that the priority of Planned Parenthood moving forward is to double down on abortion rights advocacy.”
This is a startling admission from Planned Parenthood, which for years has insisted that it is, first and foremost, focused on an all-encompassing view of women’s health. “This is health care,” claimed a recent public relations campaign. The group has maintained for years that abortion only constitutes 3% of its services.
In Wen, Planned Parenthood found an unapologetic advocate for abortion services. However, she also reportedly balked at the rapacious way the organization wanted to advocate, and celebrate, abortions — in addition to its emphatic embrace of a deeply progressive over-arching philosophy. According to reporting from BuzzFeed, Wen routinely deleted the word “sexual” from the phrase “sexual and reproductive healthcare” in Planned Parenthood press releases and documents, and resisted using abortion as a stand-alone term — adding “abortion care” or rewording it entirely.
Wen also apparently refused to use “trans-inclusive” language, like saying “people,” instead of “women,” and worried that such a progressive posture would “isolate people in the Midwest.”
All of this, including alleged mismanagement, led to Wen’s dismissal.
Her departure comes on the heels of Planned Parenthood stating it is “not going to comply” with new rules from the Trump administration, which block federal funds from organizations that refer women for abortion. After stating for years that this money was critical to its healthcare mission of breast cancer screenings, wellness exams, and screening for sexually transmitted diseases, Planned Parenthood is now forgoing the funds — solely so it can continue to refer women for abortions.
In taking these steps, Planned Parenthood finally unmasks itself as the abortion-focused advocacy group it has always been, and joins the Democratic Party in being honest about the terms of the abortion debate in America.
Abortion that is “safe, legal, and rare” — the mantra of the Clinton years — has been enthusiastically replaced by abortion that is unlimited, unrestricted, and unregulated. Earlier this year, 44 Senate Democrats went on the record opposing medical care to infants born alive after a botched abortion. Democrats for president are now attacking consensus policies which, for decades, have prevented Congress from using taxpayer money for abortion.
The Democrats and their allies are no longer hiding behind a veil of moderation when it comes to abortion. At least they’re finally being honest with voters about it.
Rachel Bovard is policy director at Conservative Partnership Institute.