Abortion provider Planned Parenthood faces backlash over its left-wing activism

08/11/2025 / By Laura Harris

Planned Parenthood is facing backlash not only from government defunding efforts but also from former donors, staff and executives who say the organization has strayed from its core mission of reproductive healthcare.
Under President Alexis McGill Johnson, the organization has expanded into broader left-wing causes, including gender ideology, gun control and political reforms, alienating many longtime supporters.
The group’s move toward gender-neutral language like “pregnant people” and “menstruators” has sparked criticism for erasing women from its messaging, with former donors citing this as a key reason for withdrawing support.
While Planned Parenthood brought in nearly $700 million in government funding in 2022, many frontline clinics struggle financially. Critics also point to excessive executive compensation and bloated national office staffing.
Former donors expressed frustration that their contributions are funding political activism rather than healthcare services, with some accusing the organization of acting as a partisan tool for the Democratic Party.

As federal and state officials ramp up efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider is facing a crisis not only from external political pressures but also from within its own ranks.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, key donors, former executives and insiders are expressing growing concerns about the organization’s shift from its original healthcare mission to increasingly broad left-wing activism. Under the leadership of current president Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood has expanded its public focus beyond reproductive healthcare into issues such as gender ideology, gun control, Senate procedural reforms and Supreme Court restructuring. (Related: In latest medical insanity, Planned Parenthood now offering transgender chemical injections on FIRST visit.)

According to insiders, this shift has alienated some longtime supporters who worry that the organization’s core mission has been diluted or even abandoned. Another point of contention among past leaders and donors is Planned Parenthood is its use of language supposedly inclusive of transgender and nonbinary individuals – a swipe at “political correctness.”

Planned Parenthood’s promotional merchandise now references women only in the context of slogans like “Stand with Black Women.” Meanwhile broader terminology centers around gender neutrality and so-called “bodily autonomy” – a phrase that encompasses both abortion access and transgender medical services.

Planned Parenthood’s recent fundraising numbers reveal deeper issues. While the organization saw a post-Dobbs fundraising spike following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, that surge has proven unsustainable. Donations have since dropped 15 percent from a high of $428 million in 2022 – with a significant share of that revenue reportedly goes toward advocacy rather than healthcare services.

Donors turn their backs on Planned Parenthood

Former staff members cited in the report described the national office as bloated, with too many high-salaried employees in vaguely defined roles. McGill Johnson reportedly received over $900,000 in compensation, according to the group’s most recent tax filings. But in reality, frontline clinics – especially those in underserved areas – are struggling.

Despite receiving nearly $700 million in government reimbursements and grants in 2022, many Planned Parenthood clinics operate at a deficit. Staffers and former executives have described the national office as bloated and top-heavy, with unclear roles and high compensation packages. McGill Johnson herself earned over $900,000 that year, according to the organization’s tax filings.

In addition to performing nearly 393,000 abortions in a single year, Planned Parenthood has expanded into the transgender healthcare space, offering hormone therapy and puberty blockers at dozens of locations. Its 2022 annual report indicated that 45 affiliates offered so-called “gender-affirming care,” including services for minors – a practice that has drawn further scrutiny and controversy.

In a separate article, Live Action highlighted that multiple commenters on the WSJ piece, identifying themselves as former donors, said they stopped contributing after discovering the organization’s stance was significantly more extreme than they had originally believed.

“I was a longtime donor to Planned Parenthood. Getting fundraising appeals that didn’t use the word ‘woman’ but referred to us as ‘pregnant people,’ menstruators and chestfeeders was so off mission that I talked to my local chapter head,” one commenter named Sharon disclosed.

“[The chapter head] looked at me, glassy-eyed, and said ‘Our staff all believes in inclusion.’ When your inclusion means erasing women, and you’re supposedly a feminist org, you’ve completely lost the plot. I know a lot of other women also quit supporting them for this reason.

Other commenters echoed a similar stance about the article. Former donors said they were shocked to learn their contributions may have funded political lobbying rather than direct patient care, with some calling the group a “laundering scheme” for the Democratic Party.

Planned Parenthood once touted the killing of babies as necessary under the guide of “reproductive care.” But the organization apparently overplayed its hand, with many now viewing it as a politically driven entity disconnected from its original mission and from the donors who once supported it.

Watch Sheriff Richard Mack discussing abortion and Planned Parenthood funding in this excerpt from the “Health Ranger Report.”

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