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In the United States, Leana Wen sacked, family planning is going through a turbulent period. While the right to abortion is under increasing attack, the president of this structure has been removed from office. Leana Wen's sudden ouster highlights two different approaches to managing the highly sensitive issue of women's sexual rights in the United States.
Leana Wen states in a statement that she "is leaving because new board chairs and (herself) have philosophical differences on the direction and future of family planning ". She denounces a procedure that was done expeditiously and opaque: it is after a secret meeting, she says, that her fate was sealed, which the organization contests.
Urgentist of Chinese origin, Leana Wen will have remained less than 9 months in this position. As the first doctor to lead family planning, she fought for the priority of this organization to remain health, the protection of abortion-related care and not politics. However, the board of directors sees things differently and also wants a fight on the political field.
This ouster has delighted anti-abortion groups. It is happening at a time when the campaign against abortion is in full swing. In recent months, several Republican-controlled states, including Ohio, Alabama, and Louisiana, have restricted access to voluntary termination of pregnancy. Leana Wen has been replaced by McGill Johnson who has served on the family planning board for almost 10 years. But this one will be president only interim which deprives the organization of a true head in this beginning of presidential campaign.