Mamdani appoints former Planned Parenthood attorney to lead Human Rights Commission

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed a former Planned Parenthood attorney as the chair of the city's Commission on Human Rights (CCHR).

Key Takeaways:

• Mamdani appointed former Planned Parenthood attorney Christine Clarke as the head of the city's Commission on Human Rights.

• Clarke acted as attorney for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where she challenged federal and state pro-life laws.

The Details:

At a press conference last Wednesday in Queens, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Christine Clarke to head up the CCHR. Clarke is a former attorney for the nation's leading abortion giant, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In her position as staff attorney for the abortion organization, Clarke challenged pro-life laws at both the state and federal levels.

“I am proud to announce Christine Clarke as our Chair and Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights," said Mamdani. "She has spent her career fighting for working people and using the law as a powerful tool to confront inequity. In the midst of an affordability crisis, Christine will ensure the Commission enforces the law to protect New Yorkers and helps build the city we deserve."

In addition to her work as an attorney for Planned Parenthood, Clarke has filed lawsuits against city agencies on behalf of low-income and immigrant New Yorkers. In 2017, she even filed a discrimination complaint with the CCHR on behalf of a Honduran woman who was allegedly kicked out of a Goodwill store for speaking Spanish. According to Gothamist, as head of CCHR, Clarke aims to speed up investigations and increase commission funding and staffing.

Why It Matters:

Human rights must be protected, which is why it is somewhat jarring to see that a person who has fought to protect an oppressive business like Planned Parenthood is held up as a protector of human rights.

According to its latest annual report (2023-2024), Planned Parenthood killed 402,230 preborn human beings that year, an increase of nearly 2.5%. Planned Parenthood denied the humanity and human rights of those human beings.

Beyond its direct targeting of preborn children, Planned Parenthood faces accusations of discrimination, fraud, abuse, and “systemic racism” from its own employees. In 2018, the New York Times exposed the organization’s abysmal treatment and discrimination against its pregnant employees.

Live Action News has reported that multiple Planned Parenthood employees have left the organization due to long-held dissatisfaction with the management and executives, leading some staffers to unionize and others to file whistleblower lawsuits.

The Bottom Line:

To work for Planned Parenthood as an attorney is to defend its financial stake in killing innocent humans in the womb.

This is the opposite of fighting for human rights.

An attorney working to keep abortion legal (and therefore financially profitable for Planned Parenthood) is fighting to ensure preborn babies are denied their human rights — their inherent right to life and their right not to be killed.