Planned Parenthood Southeast hires law firm to probe ‘troubling allegations’ after petition drive

Planned Parenthood Southeast’s board of directors announced this week that it would be hiring a law firm to investigate allegations of mismanagement that reproductive health advocates say threatens to undermine the organization’s mission and has alienated donors and partner organizations. The statement followed the circulation of a “save Planned Parenthood Southeast” petition that advocates say […]

The investigation followed the circulation of a “save Planned Parenthood Southeast” petition that advocates say has garnered over 580 signatures, alleging that new leaders have "dismantled" the organization from the inside. Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder

Planned Parenthood Southeast’s board of directors announced this week that it would be hiring a law firm to investigate allegations of mismanagement that reproductive health advocates say threatens to undermine the organization’s mission and has alienated donors and partner organizations.

The statement followed the circulation of a “save Planned Parenthood Southeast” petition that advocates say has garnered over 580 signatures, alleging that new leaders have “dismantled” the organization from the inside. The petition, which says it was started by “concerned former members” and supporters of the organization, alleges that Planned Parenthood Southeast has terminated employees dedicated to public policy and organizing and curtailed the organization’s emphasis on abortion services and community outreach under interim CEO Mairo Akposé’s leadership.

“What was once a trusted institution—providing lifesaving reproductive healthcare and fearless advocacy across Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi—is now under immediate and dangerous threat from within,” the petition states. It also calls for the removal or resignation of Akposé, the current board of directors and other leaders hired by Akposé.

Akposé did not respond to multiple requests for comment by phone. 

Planned Parenthood Southeast’s board of directors said in a statement issued Monday that it was made aware of “troubling allegations” against its leadership team the previous week.

“We take these allegations seriously and have retained a nationally recognized law firm to conduct a thorough review,” the board said in the statement. “In the interim, PPSE remains open for business, serving the 15,000+ patients who rely on our services.”

Speaking through a public relations company, the board of directors declined to name the firm, saying they wanted to “ensure the integrity of the process.” 

The board also denied that Planned Parenthood Southeast has taken any steps to reduce its emphasis on abortion services, and said they currently employ two full-time and six part-time public policy and advocacy staff members for the three-state area in a statement issued Thursday.

However, former employees said that PPSE leaders had explicitly called for the organization to downplay its focus on abortion. 

Kaylah Oates-Marable, who was the Georgia state director at Planned Parenthood Southeast until last month, said Akposé “specifically said that we talk about abortion too much and we put too much emphasis on abortion,” during a meeting with national Planned Parenthood leaders. 

Georgia law bans most abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is usually at about six weeks – and before most women know they are pregnant. Both Alabama and Mississippi implemented total abortion bans in 2022.

Oates-Marable and Stephen Stetson, who was the organization’s director for Alabama and Mississippi until he was terminated from his position last month, both said that the organization’s new leadership also questioned the need to attend community events like Pride parades in Atlanta and Birmingham, which were a key part of the organization’s community outreach work. They said leadership would cite budgetary reasons for their decision to pull back from advocacy efforts, even when the efforts in question did not come with many expenses, or were funded by grants. 

The turmoil at Planned Parenthood Southeast comes as the entire Planned Parenthood network has increasingly been targeted by Republican members of Congress. In July, President Donald Trump signed his tax and spending bill into law, which included a provision that prevents certain abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid funding for health care services unrelated to abortion, like annual physicals, cancer screenings and STI testing. Affiliates in multiple states have closed locations in response to the funding cuts, while Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has announced they will pause abortion services. Other affiliates have vowed to remain open, albeit without Medicaid funding.

Both Stetson and Oates-Marable said the national branch of Planned Parenthood had been made aware of employees’ concerns with PPSE leadership, but that the organization did not step in to address them.

“Each Planned Parenthood local affiliate is an independent non-profit organization with its own board of directors, CEO, and staff,” vice president of communications Angela Vasquez-Giroux said in a statement. “PPFA has no involvement in affiliate hiring or other personnel decisions. The affiliate’s independent board of directors has the sole responsibility for personnel decisions concerning an affiliate CEO or other affiliate staff.”

The outcry has pushed some backers to withhold donations.

Carolyn Smith, an Atlanta resident and longtime Planned Parenthood Southeast donor who has been volunteering with the organization since 2016, said she is rethinking her support.

“I’m not donating to them until I know for sure that leadership of our Planned Parenthood Southeast is leadership that shares a progressive political lens, that supports women’s rights, that supports non-binary rights, that supports the rights of the people that never get a voice,” she said.

Some reproductive rights groups are also beginning to alert their supporters to changes within the organization. 

In a post on Instagram, Planned Parenthood Young Leaders of Savannah, a fundraising group dedicated to engaging future reproductive health advocates, announced that it is disaffiliating from Planned Parenthood Southeast entirely, and has changed its name to the South Georgia Reproductive Justice Coalition. On Oct. 10, the Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation, a nonprofit that provides reproductive health care in Atlanta, put out a press release arguing that the changes “closely align with Project 2025’s agenda to dismantle reproductive rights and health infrastructure.” 

Stetson, the former Alabama and Mississippi state director, said the problems facing the organization might be a matter of bad leadership rather than ideological divides. But intentional or not, he added, the changes have damaged the organization’s credibility with other reproductive rights groups, leaving rifts that may be difficult to repair. 

“The line between malice and incompetence can be very blurry, and at the end of the day, the result is that the work isn’t getting done,” Stetson said.

Georgia Recorder deputy editor Ross Williams and reporter Alander Rocha and States Newsroom reproductive rights reporter Sofia Resnick contributed to this report. 

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE