One voice we haven’t hear nearly enough during the current conservative assault on women’s health issues is from Planned Parenthood itself. Orlando Weekly has a fascinating interview with Sue Idtensohn, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, who is retiring this week.
What does someone with 14 years in one of the most important and nerve-wracking jobs imaginable have to say?
“We were hoping, maybe blindly, that the legislative men who are in their 50s would have daughters in their 20s, and the daughters would step in and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute dad, what’s going on?’ I think we’re beginning to see some of that, but I do think in Florida we’re beginning to have more legislators that are heavily funded by religious organizations, and they vote accordingly. We’ve got a couple Republicans who will take us behind closed doors and say, ‘We really believe in what you guys are doing. I’ve got daughters. I have a wife who’s on me all the time about this. But I cannot go onto the floor and talk about this, because my peers will not let me have a committee chair, they will not let me be on a bill that I believe in.’ It is archaic the way the political system is designed. It’s all driven by money.”
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