Planned Parenthood Southeast hires law firm to probe ‘troubling allegations’ after petition drive

The research followed the circulation of a save Planned Parenthood Southeast petition that advocates say has garnered over signatures alleging that new leaders have dismantled the organization from the inside Maya Homan Georgia Recorder Planned Parenthood Southeast s board of directors revealed this week that it would be hiring a law firm to investigate charges of mismanagement that reproductive physical condition advocates say threatens to undermine the organization s mission and has alienated donors and partner organizations The message followed the circulation of a save Planned Parenthood Southeast petition that advocates say has garnered over signatures alleging that new leaders have dismantled the organization from the inside The petition which says it was started by concerned former members and supporters of the organization alleges that Planned Parenthood Southeast has terminated employees dedicated to community guidelines and organizing and curtailed the organization s emphasis on abortion services and area outreach under interim CEO Mairo Akpos s leadership What was once a trusted institution providing lifesaving reproductive healthcare and fearless advocacy across Georgia Alabama and Mississippi is now under immediate and dangerous threat from within the petition states It also calls for the removal or resignation of Akpos the current board of directors and other leaders hired by Akpos Akpos did not respond to multiple requests for comment by phone Planned Parenthood Southeast s board of directors noted in a announcement issued Monday that it was made aware of troubling claims against its leadership band the previous week We take these claims seriously and have retained a nationally recognized law firm to conduct a thorough review the board noted in the declaration In the interim PPSE remains open for business serving the patients who rely on our services Speaking through a residents relations company the board of directors declined to name the firm saying they requested to ensure the integrity of the process The board also denied that Planned Parenthood Southeast has taken any attempts to reduce its emphasis on abortion services and explained they as of now employ two full-time and six part-time residents agenda and advocacy staff members for the three-state area in a announcement issued Thursday However former employees disclosed that PPSE leaders had explicitly called for the organization to downplay its focus on abortion Kaylah Oates-Marable who was the Georgia state director at Planned Parenthood Southeast until last month stated Akpos specifically commented that we talk about abortion too much and we put too much emphasis on abortion during a meeting with national Planned Parenthood leaders Georgia law bans preponderance abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected which is usually at about six weeks and before the bulk women know they are pregnant Both Alabama and Mississippi implemented total abortion bans in Oates-Marable and Stephen Stetson who was the organization s director for Alabama and Mississippi until he was terminated from his position last month both commented that the organization s new leadership also questioned the need to attend society events like Pride parades in Atlanta and Birmingham which were a key part of the organization s neighborhood outreach work They reported leadership would cite budgetary reasons for their decision to pull back from advocacy efforts even when the efforts in question did not come with several expenses or were funded by grants The turmoil at Planned Parenthood Southeast comes as the entire Planned Parenthood grid has increasingly been targeted by Republican members of Congress In July President Donald Trump signed his tax and spending bill into law which included a provision that prevents certain abortion providers including Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding for robustness care services unrelated to abortion like annual physicals cancer screenings and STI testing Affiliates in multiple states have closed locations in response to the funding cuts while Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has informed they will pause abortion services Other affiliates have vowed to remain open albeit without Medicaid funding Both Stetson and Oates-Marable disclosed the national branch of Planned Parenthood had been made aware of employees concerns with PPSE leadership but that the organization did not step in to address them Each Planned Parenthood local affiliate is an independent non-profit organization with its own board of directors CEO and staff vice president of communications Angela Vasquez-Giroux noted in a report PPFA has no involvement in affiliate hiring or other personnel decisions The affiliate s independent board of directors has the sole responsibility for personnel decisions concerning an affiliate CEO or other affiliate staff The outcry has pushed chosen backers to withhold donations Carolyn Smith an Atlanta resident and longtime Planned Parenthood Southeast donor who has been volunteering with the organization since announced she is rethinking her promotion I m not donating to them until I know for sure that leadership of our Planned Parenthood Southeast is leadership that shares a progressive political lens that supports women s rights that supports non-binary rights that supports the rights of the people that never get a voice she explained Several reproductive rights groups are also beginning to alert their supporters to changes within the organization In a post on Instagram Planned Parenthood Young Leaders of Savannah a fundraising group dedicated to engaging future reproductive fitness advocates revealed that it is disaffiliating from Planned Parenthood Southeast entirely and has changed its name to the South Georgia Reproductive Justice Coalition On Oct the Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation a nonprofit that provides reproductive strength care in Atlanta put out a press release arguing that the changes closely align with Project s agenda to dismantle reproductive rights and wellbeing infrastructure Stetson the former Alabama and Mississippi state director mentioned the problems facing the organization might be a matter of bad leadership rather than ideological divides But intentional or not he added the changes have damaged the organization s credibility with other reproductive rights groups leaving rifts that may be arduous to repair The line between malice and incompetence can be very blurry and at the end of the day the upshot is that the work isn t getting done Stetson commented Georgia Recorder deputy editor Ross Williams and reporter Alander Rocha and States Newsroom reproductive rights reporter Sofia Resnick contributed to this statement The post Planned Parenthood Southeast hires law firm to probe troubling charges after petition drive appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta