Planned Parenthood Utah president and CEO Kathryn Boyd is stepping down.
The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and Planned Parenthood Action Council of Utah announced March 13 that Boyd’s last day will be March 28. She took over as leader of the organization in May 2023 after longtime CEO Karrie Galloway retired.
Boyd became CEO almost one year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Planned Parenthood of Utah challenged the state’s “trigger law” that banned almost all abortions. The ban is on hold while the issue is figured out in court. As of now, abortion in Utah is legal up to 18 weeks of pregnancy.
In a statement, the organization said Boyd led Planned Parenthood of Utah “through a period of modernization, systems upgrades, organizational growth and service expansion despite increasing health care costs and ongoing political attacks.”
KUER was told Boyd would not be available for comment and the organization did not give a reason for her departure.
In a statement, Boyd said it has been an honor to lead the organization and she is “proud of all we accomplished together.”
“In the past two years, we encountered many challenges and faced them with courage, resilience, and grit. We expanded services and improved operational systems throughout the organization. We protected abortion care, and we fought off additional bad legislation. Most importantly, we showed up every day and kept our doors open for the thousands of people both here in Utah and in surrounding states who rely on us for health care and education,” Boyd said.
The organization will conduct a national search for a new leader. In the meantime, Sarah Stoesz, who served as interim president and CEO in 2023, will fill in as interim CEO. Shireen Ghorbani, who is the chief corporate affairs officer, will be the interim president. Ghorbani is a former Salt Lake County Council member and unsuccessfully ran for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018.
The organization has faced challenges in the first few months of 2025.
State lawmakers passed a bill that prohibits schools from partnering with Planned Parenthood to teach students about sexual health. An advertisement in the annual legislative guidebook also earned the ire of Republican Rep. Trevor Lee and GOP leadership. And lawmakers targeted court injunctions, like the one that blocked the state’s abortion ban. SB204 allows defendants to appeal injunctions if the underlying claim is that the law in question is unconstitutional.
In a statement on behalf of the board of directors, Chair Ema Ostarcevic thanked Boyd “for her steadfast dedication to Planned Parenthood Association of Utah’s mission during a difficult time for reproductive health and rights.”
