3 decades after Planned Parenthood, Faye Wattleton still fights for reproductive rights

She knew she was walking into a hornet‘s nest, as the abortion issue was dividing the country in sometimes violent factions.

Credit: Courtesy Faye Wattleton

Credit: Courtesy Faye Wattleton

A year before she took the helm, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minneapolis was burned to the ground. In 1994, two years after she stepped down, multiple staffers were killed in a string of shootings in Massachusetts.

Her 14-year tenure, from 1978 to 1992, was marked by bomb threats, gun violence and political attacks — a stark reminder of what was at stake.

Still, Wattleton transformed the organization into a national force. Under her leadership, Planned Parenthood grew into one of the country’s largest charities, serving 4 million clients annually through 170 affiliates and more than 800 health centers nationwide.

“There is a tremendous violent history in this struggle,” Wattleton said. “That‘s one reason I continue to speak when invited. I feel an obligation to support those on the front lines.”

On May 17, Wattleton will be in Atlanta as the keynote speaker at the 2025 Planned Parenthood Southeast (PPSE) Gala at the Intercontinental Hotel Buckhead.

Now 81, Wattleton remains a formidable presence. In 2017, she cofounded the quantum computing company EeroQ.

Ahead of her Atlanta appearance, Wattleton spoke with Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Ernie Suggs about the ongoing struggle for reproductive rights.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Suggs: How do you feel about coming to Atlanta to speak at this conference?

Wattleton: Having left my official role as CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America [33] years ago, it‘s an honor to know that affiliates are still interested in my message and in how I can articulate Planned Parenthood’s enduring mission to a broad audience. I’m honored to be the keynote speaker at an event sponsored by an affiliate that covers three states in the Southeast.

Suggs: You left your post in 1992. Why do you think people still want to hear from you all these years later?

Wattleton: Why wouldn’t they? Unfortunately, the message is still as relevant as it was then, maybe even more so. We are now in a position where reproductive rights have been eroded, and we have to fight to regain lost ground as a result of chipping away at reproductive rights.

Suggs: How do you view the current state of reproductive rights, especially after the overturning of Roe v. Wade?

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

Wattleton: I don’t believe Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Dobbs decision — it had been finally extinguished. But it had been overturned more than 40 years ago, starting in 1980 when the courts allowed Congress to prohibit Medicaid funds from covering abortion services for low-income women. That was the first major blow to Roe v. Wade. Over time, the right to reproductive health care was chipped away. The Dobbs decision put the final nail, shifting the decision back to individual states, as opposed to the court recognizing in ‘73 that as Americans, women are covered by the Constitution for the protection of their personal self-determination. That‘s what we’ve lost.

Suggs: Is there anything that gives you hope in the current fight?

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Wattleton: Yes. Because Dobbs overturned aspects of reproductive control doesn’t mean that control does not continue to be exercised. The question is whether it will be safe and if the woman can make the decision without government intrusion in this most private aspect of her life. Or whether there will be enforcement through government fiat to do so. Women are still finding ways — but at what cost, and under what risks? This is not just about abortion. It‘s about contraception, and the right to make deeply personal decisions privately, without government interference in this most basic aspect of human development.

Suggs: Black maternal mortality remains a national crisis. What systemic changes do you see as most urgent to protect Black women’s health?

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

Wattleton: We must protect all women’s health and recognize that pregnancy is not an inconsequential condition. It‘s a life-threatening condition for every woman. The question is, will she have the best care or (will she enter) that pregnancy at a disadvantaged state of health — most often low-income Black women. It‘s a mistake to focus just on the pregnancy without realizing the foundation for a healthy pregnancy is laid long before pregnancy. Once a woman decides to become pregnant, ideally without government interference, she should have access to the best medical services possible. If we wait until pregnancy to act, we’re already behind.

Suggs: During your presidency from 1978 to 1992 — a turbulent time with violence against clinics — you helped Planned Parenthood grow tremendously. How did you manage that?

Wattleton: It wasn’t me alone. Planned Parenthood has deep roots, dating back to the early 20th century, when women prepared to be jailed for distributing information about birth control and contraceptive practices. Margaret Sanger did so in the early 1900s when she saw poor women dying on the Lower East Side of New York City as a result of repeated unsupervised pregnancies. I stepped into that legacy. The passage of my time in the organization was to give voice. I didn’t expect to become a national public figure. I just responded when I was called.

Suggs: You were a pioneer in both race and gender leadership. What were some of the personal costs and triumphs?

Wattleton: Do we have all afternoon? I still hold the record as the longest-serving president. It was a precarious position. My immediate predecessors had lasted 18 and 24 months. There was a movement in the organization that I was too young and probably too Black. But I come from an “up from slavery” family — my mother is buried in Mississippi; my father was from Anniston, Alabama. I am really an ethnic African American and I am clear about my lineage and the struggles of my people.

I had a lot going against me, but I also felt there were a number of reasons I had no excuse but to step up. I trained in midwifery at Harlem Hospital and worked with women who had suffered dangerous, illegal abortions. In Dayton, I led programs to help teen mothers stay in school.

I came from the field to the position. It was not theoretical in any way. I had a lot of training, a lot of experience and a lot of will.

Suggs: How do reproductive rights relate to broader democratic principles like voting and civic engagement?

Wattleton: Controlling the most private aspects of your body demands constitutional protection at the highest level. The right to vote, to exist freely, to make decisions about your own body — those are all interconnected. These decisions must not be vulnerable to the invasion of governmental and legislative control.

It‘s indecent to have these discussions in the legislative bodies. None of the discussions are about male reproductive control or how we should control ejaculation. All of these discussions are unseemly and should be left to the most personal aspects of a person’s decision-making. These choices should be private — between individuals, their families, their doctors or pastors, not the government.

And by the way, forced abortion is also a threat. There is a perception that this is all about preventing, but this can also go the other way. The point is the government shouldn’t have that power. I often got asked how I reconciled my work with my mother’s very fundamentalist, denominational leadership. She was a high-ranking minister in the Church of God. Well, it was very easy. If that was her view and she held that belief, who am I to argue with her about her belief? I want to protect her right to believe without being castigated by a belief that I may have held that was different.

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