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Tanya Atkinson
President and CEO, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin

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Carrie Norbin Killoran
Board Chair, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin

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Alexis McGill Johnson
President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

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Dear Ms. Atkinson, Ms. Norbin Killoran, and Ms. McGill Johnson:

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We, the undersigned, are writing to alert you to numerous Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim posts, likes, and shares your Chief of Staff of the Wisconsin Planned Parenthood, Lauren Lasry, has recently made. We are attaching a selection of those posts. While Ms. Lasry has since taken them down, they were shared with us by numerous individuals who have been deeply offended by the blatant Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim sentiments that are so clearly held by a woman who is a known personality in Wisconsin and a leader of an organization that purports to advocate on behalf of women’s health.

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The attached posts characterize marriage to a Muslim man as a punishment, describe Palestinians as “barbaric, despicable, depraved monsters,” mock images of Gaza families holding their murdered children, criticize students exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech, demonstrate support for a genocide, and simply spread blatantly false facts. As we understand it, Ms. Lasry, in her role as Chief of Staff, “serves as a strategic partner and trusted adviser to the President and CEO.” Further, she acts “as a key liaison between executive leadership and internal/external stakeholders.” We find it vile that Planned Parenthood entrusts such an important position and provides such a public platform to a woman with such obviously abhorrent views. Further, we are concerned that Muslim and Arab women, or even young college students opposed to a genocide, would not receive equitable treatment from a Planned Parenthood facility in Wisconsin.

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The posts, in addition to being Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim, are antithetical to advocating for women’s health. Palestine is a woman’s health issue. In September of 2024, the United Nations published a report, Gender Alert: Gaza: A War on Women's Health. Among the many statistics about the lack of basic health care, including necessary nutrition, the report documents that 84 percent of medical facilities at the time had been damaged or destroyed. As a result, there is no capacity for women’s sexual or reproductive health treatment.

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The culmination of this destruction of the medical infrastructure in Gaza means that an estimated 155,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women confront obstacles to antenatal and postnatal care. Among pregnant women interviewed, almost all experienced challenges related to nutrition. Some 69 percent had experienced complications such as urinary tract infections, anaemia, pre-term labour and hypertensive disorders.

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Note, this report was issued before the most recent blockade on food and medicine that is resulting in further deaths and problems in pregnancies, including low birth weight, due to malnutrition of the mothers, as documented by a more recent UN Report, As Famine Looms in Gaza, Pregnant Women and Newborns Face Life Threatening Health Risks. Therefore, I am sure you can understand why mocking of calls for an end to this genocide by a leader in your organization is repugnant to us.

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Ms. Lasry’s posts also strongly support actions that have been described as a Genocide by major human rights organizations: 

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Despite these reports, Ms. Lasry has chosen to share her extremist political beliefs that it is Palestinians who are barbaric and mock the families mourning their dead.

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In the most recent issue of Standing Together, Ms. Atkinson wrote about Planned Parenthood’s mission to provide healthcare for all women, “regardless of zip code, immigration status, sexual orientation, or income level.” We hope that Ms. Atkinson also would include religion, race, and national origin on her list, but this most recent action by one of her high-level employees causes us to question that commitment. While we are aware that Planned Parenthood has made efforts to overcome its foundation that supported racism and eugenics, sentiments like those supported by your Chief of Staff suggest that there is still much work to do.

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Planned Parenthood is not just any organization; it is a leader in advocating for women’s health. To be associated with such blatant and repulsive racism from one of the highest members of your team should be cause for considerable alarm. To see such virulent anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice puts your entire mission into question. We look forward to hearing how you plan to remedy this and what steps you will take to implement and enforce a welcoming, safe, and equitable company culture that is not just cosmetic but is modeled by your leadership in the public sphere.

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We look forward to your response.

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Sincerely,

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Ad'iyah Collective
Adalah Justice Group
Al-Quran Foundation
Allies for Black Lives - Madison
Alpha Lambda Mu Wisconsin
American Muslims for Palestine - Milwaukee Chapter
Anti-Zionist Jews in Reproductive Justice Collective
Appleton Students for Democratic Society
Arab and Muslim Women’s Research and Resource Institute
ARC-Southeast
Birthworkers of Color Collective
Black Youth Project 100
Building Unity - Moving Wisconsin Forward Together
Catholics for Peace and Justice
Code Pink Madison
Code Pink Milwaukee
Coulee Region Coalition for Palestinian Rights (CRCPR)
Democratic Socialists of America - Milwaukee
Driftless for Palestine Solidarity - Viroqua
Driftless Palestinian Solidarity in Viroqua area
Echo Valley Hope
End of Wars Committee of Progressive Democrats of America
Family Farm Defenders
Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO)
Friends of Palestine - Wisconsin
Green Bay Anti-War Committee
Hate Free Outagamie
Healthcare Workers for Palestine
Healthcare Workers for Palestine - Milwaukee
HEART to Grow
Islamic Society of Milwaukee
Islamic Society of Sheboygan
Jewish Voice for Peace — Madison
Jewish Voice for Peace — Milwaukee
Kickapoo Peace Circle
Lawrence University Young Democratic Socialists of America
Linda and Gene Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability
ListenToWisconsin
Madison Abortion & Reproductive Rights Coalition for Healthcare (MARRCH)
Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America (MADSA)
Madison for a World Beyond War
Madison Industrial Workers of the World
Madison Tempest Collective
Madison Tenant Power
Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
Midwest Access Coalition
Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Milwaukee Anti-War Committee (MAC)
Milwaukee For Yemen
Milwaukee Islamic Dawa Center
Milwaukee Veterans for Peace Chapter 102
Muslim American Society
Muslim Students Association - UW Madison
Muslim Students Association - UW Milwaukee
Muslim Students Association - Marquette University
Muslim Women for
Muslim Women’s Coalition
National Lawyers Guild - Milwaukee Chapter
Palestine Children Relief Fund Milwaukee
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Peace Action Wisconsin
Pro-Choice Arizona and the Abortion Fund of Arizona
Progressive North Wisconsin
Racine Against Hate
Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice
Reproductive Justice Action - Milwaukee
Reproductive Justice for All Coalition
SAMS Syrian American Medical Society - Milwaukee
Socialist Alternative Madison
Students for a Democratic Society - UW Green Bay
Students for a Democratic Society - UW La Crosse
Sun-Seeker MKE Collective
SUNNY
Trans Resistance Action Committee (TRAC)
UMMA Milwaukee
United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)
UW Madison Faculty and Staff for Palestinian Liberation
UWM4Pali Coalition
Voces de la Frontera
Wisconsin Bail Out the People
Wisconsin Christians for Justice in Palestine
Wisconsin Green Party
Wisconsin Labor for Palestine
Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance
Young Democratic Socialists of America - Wisconsin

TAKE ACTION NOW!

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