Gloria Feldt Unexpectedly Resigns as PPFA President

By Dave Andrusko

When Gloria Feldt, a 30-year veteran of Planned Parenthood and its public face for eight years, unexpectedly stepped down as president January 27, the leadership hewed to the standard line in such situations.

"We honor Gloria Feldt's contributions to Planned Parenthood and to the global movement for reproductive justice," said Planned Parenthood chairwoman La Don Love. "Her leadership has resulted in significant achievements for the organization and for women and families worldwide."

Likewise, a "national search" was said to be underway immediately. In the meanwhile, the interim president will be Karen Pearl, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, New York.

But it quickly got more interesting. Five days later, Feldt "commended her anti-abortion adversaries Tuesday for their political skills and criticized ally John Kerry for an ineffective defense of abortion rights during his losing presidential campaign," according to the Associated Press (AP).

"I have great respect for John Kerry, but there's no question he did not articulate these issues well," Feldt told the AP's David Crary. "He seemed equivocal. He ceded the moral high ground to the other side."

A Kerry spokesman "expressed surprise at Feldt's comments, noting that Kerry explicitly vowed to oppose Supreme Court nominees who might overturn the right to abortion," the AP reported. "'John Kerry's record in the Senate for 20 years and throughout the presidential campaign was crystal clear that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare,' David Wade said."

Referring to the buzz going around in Democratic circles about the need to (in some fashion) revisit the abortion issue, Feldt insisted, "The finger of blame shouldn't be pointed at us who've been doing the work on the ground." Then where? At "the anti-choice extremists."

Yet Feldt also said, ""You can't fault the anti-choice groups for participating in the democratic process," according to the AP. She added, "They took over the Republican Party precinct by precinct; they did it by studying Democracy 101."

Feldt's departure, assurances to the contrary notwithstanding, must be viewed in the light of several key developments. In 2004, for the first time, Planned Parenthood's political arm endorsed a candidate for President - - and it wasn't George W. Bush. At this juncture, it is unclear how much the Planned Parenthood Action Fund doled out, but it was doubtless considerable.

Feldt doubled as president of the Action Fund and was a non-stop, blistering critic of President Bush. As she said April 23, the day the Action Fund endorsed Kerry for President, "We must stop the Bush Administration's war on choice. This administration has no respect for the medical privacy or fundamental rights of women. There's never been a more frightening time for the future of reproductive rights. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund will make sure that pro-choice Americans know exactly what's at stake in this election."

Unfortunately for Feldt, they lost.

In addition there is the question of PPFA's public profile. The organization insists its public image remains 99.44/100% positive.

That might have been true before it dove headlong into abortion, but it is no longer so. And because the public has grown more savvy in decoding Planned Parenthood's rhetoric, local groups have had more success opposing new PPFA facilities whose proprietors often insist they will not be performing abortions - - until they win approval.

There are other indices of trouble. As CNSNews reported, "After a spike in private contributions two years ago, Planned Parenthood saw those donations drop [16.2] percent last year," offset by "U.S. taxpayer assistance in the form of government grants" which "reached record levels." (According to its latest annual report, Planned Parenthood received $265.2 million dollars in its 2003-2004 fiscal year from "Government Grants and Contracts.")

Moreover, as Dr. Randall K. O'Bannon, Ph.D., NRLC's director of education and research, has explained in National Right to Life News, PPFA's facilities now take the lives of nearly a quarter of a million babies each year. The nation's largest abortion chain now accounts for nearly one out of every five abortions performed in the U.S. each year.

There's no indication of any slowdown on the horizon. Just the opposite. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, the percentage of clinic revenue from abortions went up 2% over the prior year.

There is one more factor, which, while outside of our single-issue purview, was likely instrumental in Feldt's abrupt departure.

While more and more PPFA has become identified with abortion, its historic trademark has been "family planning." Imagine the unimaginable embarrassment in late January when Consumer Reports, having tested 23 popular brands of condoms, ranked Planned Parenthood's three products 14th, 22nd, and 23rd!

Gloria Feldt stepped down as PPFA president almost before the sound of pro-abortion applause for outgoing NARAL President Kate Michelman could no longer be heard. One of the explanations Michelman gave for stepping down was so she could spend more time defeating George W. Bush. Like Michelman, Feldt put her organization's prestige and political muscle on the line in the unsuccessful effort.