On September 10, comedian Andy Richter offered his eternal gratitude to Planned Parenthood for aborting his baby. He also had a very hostile message for pro-lifers: “F— ’em.” Richter’s comments came as he hosted the second ever “Sexy Beast,” an art-themed fundraiser for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles.
The comedian, best known for his role as Conan O’Brien’s perennial sidekick, began by telling his wife’s abortion story. In 1992, Richter and his then girlfriend, Sarah Thyre – who is now his wife – were both struggling performers. One day, Thyre called to inform him that she was pregnant, which according to Richter was “not exactly happy news.” Neither felt ready to be parents, so they chose to abort the baby at a Planned Parenthood clinic. Richter admits that he and Sarah were both “sad” about the abortion.
But in his speech, he thanked Planned Parenthood for the abortion. “Planned Parenthood gave two young struggling people the ability to do the thing that is in their name: We got to plan parenthood,” he said. “When we could barely care for ourselves, much less a newborn, we were able to choose the time when we brought a child into our lives.”
In addition to praising Planned Parenthood in his monologue, Richter also made a point to praise his own contributions to the Planned Parenthood debate, specifically his tweeting abilities – which he apparently has a rather high opinion of…
I came to the attention of the organizers of this event, because a while back, I tweeted a few supportive words about Planned Parenthood. I’m not going to repeat those tweets here tonight, but trust me, they were great. They were witty and poignant, and so rhetorically bulletproof, I’m surprised there’s still a debate about the organization. I thought those tweets would put it to bed.
Apparently, Richter believes he can single-handedly win a nationwide debate with silly tweets like this one…
To call fetal tissue "baby parts" shows a childish ignorance about medical research. Imagine a Dr. calling muscle tissue "people meat"…
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) November 29, 2015
Witty? Sure. Rhetorically bulletproof? Hardly. Enough to win the debate about Planned Parenthood? Okay now, that is funny. Nice work, Andy.
But not everything is fun and games for Richter. According the The Hollywood Reporter, Richter had some choice words for pro-lifers after the event. “Planned Parenthood helps a ton of people, and if they don’t agree with that, f— ’em. You can quote me on that. Tell them I said, ‘F— ’em.'”
