Lydia Glenn

News Editor

lmg5921@psu.edu

On January 24, youth organizers from Penn State Behrend and University of Pittsburgh interviewed the new CEO of Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. 

The youth organizers were Ketara Hinman from Penn State Behrend and Alexa P. from Pitt. Ketara Hinman is the President of the Planned Parenthood Generation Action Chapter at Behrend. Alexa holds the same title at Pitt.

These two leaders asked the new CEO, Sydney Etheredge some hard hitting questions about the future of the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court decision. 

The Roe V. Wade decision has always been under constant threat, but right now there is a lot of pressure on lawmakers to overturn the ruling. Sydney Etheredge said that with the change of power from Obama to Trump, there has been a heightened threat. She also said in the interview that it is important to realize that we are in the state of a national crisis consisting of the revoking of women’s healthcare. 

Before jumping into the deep questions, Etheredge was asked to speak on her background and how she ended up as the CEO. Etheredge also attended Pitt like Alexa P, one of the interviewers, and received her Master’s degree in Public Health at George Washington University. 

Etheredge initially worked with the Planned Parenthood of America for almost a decade. After that, she saw that the position here in Western PA was opening up and decided to apply for the CEO position. 

This was quite a big change because Etheredge was the first leadership change in almost 40 years. Whilst she celebrated the last CEO, she has a new vision for the direction of Planned Parenthood for Western PA. 

When talking about abortion rights, all parties in the interview noted that it is important to talk about the most recent case that stripped away reproductive rights in Mississippi, Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 

This case eliminated all abortion access in the state of Mississippi. The new ruling forces women to carry unwanted pregnancies to full term, regardless of their wants.

Etheredge points out that this ruling was a huge hit to the Planned Parenthood ecosystem because when one Planned Parenthood chapter is affected, so is everyone. 

Etheredge goes on to say that every state and every chapter of Planned Parenthood is always at risk. So when court decisions like Dobbs are upheld, it affects and threatens the organization. 

When asked why she decided to go into this career, Etheredge said that it just felt natural for her. She said she grew up in a household where she was educated on reproductive rights and where she knew and understood what organizations like Planned Parenthood did for people in their communities. 

She also continued to say that she has always felt that sexual reproductive rights is healthcare. Access to safe abortions is healthcare, and she has always seen healthcare and the services Planned Parenthood provide go hand-in-hand. 

Etheredge stated that she is continually fighting and advocating for a better healthcare system that not only includes access to affordable reproductive healthcare but also education on reproductive rights and healthcare. 

One of the major parts of Etheredge’s job is to create contingency plans. She explained that contingency plans were basically what they would do if Roe V. Wade was overturned or if another case like Dobbs was to happen in PA and reproductive rights were stripped away. 

Etheredge also wanted people to know that besides abortions and birth control, Planned Parenthood caters to so many other needs. She said that they offer gender and hormone therapy for anyone who is transitioning. Planned Parenthood of Western PA is evolving to the needs of the community and recognizing proper mental health treatment as a part of the healthcare system. 

One last piece of advice Etheredge gave to her interviewers and viewers was to self educate. She said that she believes that everyone should educate themselves on subjects they are not sure about because self educating helped her a great deal.

To become involved in this movement, one can join the Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter here at Behrend or visit their social media pages to find out more. One can also contact Ketara who is the Club President at Behrend at kzh519@psu.edu.