Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana Wen To Lead Planned Parenthood

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen will be the next president of Planned Parenthood.

Wen, who has served as the city's top doctor for nearly four years will be the first doctor in nearly 50 years to lead the reproductive health organization.

"After considering some truly formidable women, the search committee unanimously, even joyfully selected Dr. Leana Wen,” Anna Quindlen, chair of the search committee, said in a statement. “Like so many of our affiliate leaders, she is passionate about balancing public advocacy for reproductive freedom with the daily provision of quality health care. Like so many of our patients, she is an immigrant determined to do the best for this country. As she likes to say, her whole life has been leading to this position."

In a statement, Wen, 35, said she was "truly honored" and thanked Mayor Catherine Pugh and her employees in the city health department.

"As a patient, I depended on Planned Parenthood for medical care at various times in my own life, and as a public health leader, I have seen firsthand the lifesaving work it does for our most vulnerable communities," Wen said. "As a doctor, I will ensure we continue to provide high-quality health care, including the full range of reproductive care, and will fight to protect the access of millions of patients who rely on Planned Parenthood."

Wen will be Planned Parenthood’s sixth president over a century of work providing millions of Americans with birth control, sex education and medical screenings.

The organization also is the largest provider of abortions in the U.S., making it a perennial target for anti-abortion activists. In recent years, its foes have been striving — thus far unsuccessfully — to halt the flow of federal funds that help Planned Parenthood provide some of its non-abortion services.

Wen succeeds Cecile Richards, who had been president since 2006 before resigning earlier this year.

Under Richards’ leadership, Planned Parenthood has been at odds with congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump on numerous fronts, most recently joining the intense opposition to Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. Abortion-rights advocates fear that Kavanaugh will tilt the high court to the right, possibly opening the way for rulings that would reverse or weaken the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a nationwide right for women to have abortions.

Wen said she didn't expect to leave the health department, but that she takes the helm of Planned Parenthood at a time the organization and women's access to health care are under siege "from all three branches of government."

"I think about the women who face fear and stigma when they are trying to access legal, evidence-based medical care in their time of greatest need," Wen said. "I think about what it means for human rights when women are deprived of something as basic as their bodily autonomy."

Wen said she intends to remain in Baltimore with her husband Sebastian and infant son Eli.

Pugh said an immediate national search will aim to find Wen's successor.

"We have made significant progress in addressing issues of health disparity across our City, and in developing innovative approaches for prevention and treatment," Pugh said in a statement. "Dr. Wen has achieved national leadership on a broad range of public health issues, which has also led to national recognition for the Baltimore Health Department as among the most impactful in improving health outcomes for citizens of all ages."

Wen oversees a nine-figure budget, two clinics, and city schools medical programs. Born in Shanghai, her family came to the United States to seek asylum just before her eighth birthday. She and her family became U.S. citizens in 2003.

She graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Los Angeles at 18 and went on to medical school at Washington University, then became a Rhodes Scholar. She earned her master's degree at Oxford and completed residency at Brighan & Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. She was elected president of the American Medical Student Association during this time, taking a year off to lead 65,000 physicians-in-training.

A Planned Parenthood release notes Wen, her mother and her sister relied on Planned Parenthood, and that she volunteered at a Planned Parenthood health center in St. Louis.

As Baltimore's health commissioner, she spoke out after the Trump administration axed federal funding for a teen-pregnancy prevention program. She also drew attention for her work on the city's opioid epidemic, sounding the alarm supplies of the overdose antidote naloxone. Other initiatives combated infant mortality and provided free glasses to city children who needed them.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, whose district includes most of Baltimore, said Wen was a great choice to follow longtime president Cecile Richards.

“I am certain that Dr. Wen will continue the fight to protect women’s healthcare," Cummings said in a statement. "She is a brilliant physician and a passionate public health leader. Although she will be sorely missed by Baltimore, I look forward to continuing our shared mission to ensure that all of our citizens have access to quality, affordable healthcare.”

For years, I’ve worked closely with @DrLeanaWen as she led the Baltimore City Health Department. She has a proven track record of looking out for women’s health and reproductive rights—and standing up to the Trump Administration. I know she’ll do the same at @PlannedParenthood. https://t.co/MxkCl9Lja5 — Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) September 12, 2018

Wen's last day with the health department is Oct. 12, and she will start at Planned Parenthood on Nov. 12. Pugh will designate an interim health commissioner before Wen's departure.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.