Last year, Cecile Richards stepped down from her position as president and CEO of the country’s largest abortion corporation, Planned Parenthood — but she has by no means retired; she still speaks out in defense of abortion, and recently published a book that is meant to serve as a guide for pro-abortion feminists. In a recent interview with Newsweek, she, in typical fashion, accused pro-life lawmakers of using misogyny as an “organizing force.” But Richards ignores the misogyny she allowed to fester and grow under her leadership at Planned Parenthood.
At the beginning of the interview, Richards argued that some issues for women are bipartisan, using a cringeworthy example. “Women aren’t paid equally,” she said. “I don’t care if you work at Walmart or Goldman Sachs—women care about that. Workplaces treat pregnancy as a burden and nuisance. These issues are not Democratic or Republican.”
It’s interesting that Richards would complain about pregnancy being treated as a burden and nuisance, when she headed an organization whose abortion business model depended upon the fact that pregnancy is treated as a burden. In addition, her organization was found to be one of those workplaces that treated pregnancy in this manner: a bombshell report from a New York Times investigative piece that Planned Parenthood “saw accommodating expecting mothers as expensive and inconvenient,” and refused to give them lunch breaks or rest periods. Pregnant workers were also penalized or retaliated against for taking medical leave. Pregnant applicants were denied jobs, and possible future pregnancy was a factor when considering an employee for promotion.
All of this violates the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. And Richards clearly only cares about pregnant employees when they can be used as a talking point; when it came to her own corporation, they were discriminated against and treated abhorrently.
VIDEO: Workers recount Planned Parenthood’s ‘dark’ culture of pregnancy discrimination
Richards then trotted out the old claim that defunding Planned Parenthood would rob women of health care, asking, “How can you advocate for child care and, on the other hand, take away millions of women’s access to great exams and cancer screening?”
At one point, Planned Parenthood did provide more health care services. But under Richards’ leadership, that all changed, and abortion became the focus. Now, Planned Parenthood serves only a small percentage of women, performing less than 2 percent of all cancer screenings, less than 2 percent of all breast exams, and less than 1 percent of pap exams. Legitimate health care services have massively decreased, while abortion has increased. 94 percent of their pregnancy-related services is abortion; adoption referrals are so rare as to be practically non-existent, and prenatal care isn’t provided, either.
Women don’t need Planned Parenthood for health care, which is probably why people like Richards feel it necessary to deceive the public about the services they provide. After all, arguing that Planned Parenthood needs to be protected because women need abortion is a losing argument.
Finally, Richards pointed the finger at the Republican party, claiming that because they are pro-life, they are misogynistic. It must be pointed out, of course, that pro-lifers exist across all party lines; the desire to protect all human life is not a partisan issue, and there are pro-life Democrats just as there are pro-life Republicans.
But, again, when we look at Planned Parenthood’s history, we see that Cecile Richards is the last person on the planet who should accuse anyone of misogyny. The organization she headed up for over a decade is willing to participate in gendercide, while Black women at Planned Parenthood are pressured into sterilization. Other women that seek help from the abortion chain find themselves manipulated, pressured into having abortions, and lied to. And disturbingly, that’s not even the worst of it.
Survivors of sexual assault, rape, and sex trafficking may think Planned Parenthood could be a safe haven where they can be rescued from their abusers. But instead, Planned Parenthood has a nasty habit of helping rapists escape justice, covering up child sex trafficking, and helping abusers hide the sexual abuse of children. And while Live Action investigations, such as Aiding Abusers, have uncovered these despicable practices, there are horrific real-life circumstances of this happening all over the country.
Time and time again, survivors of sexual violence go to Planned Parenthood for help, and Planned Parenthood sends them back to their abusers.
Considering all of this — the pregnancy discrimination, the significant decline in legitimate health care services, the pressure on women to have abortions, the willingness to aid and abet sex crimes — it would be hard to imagine a more anti-woman organization than Planned Parenthood. Cecile Richards can accuse other of misogyny all day long, but ultimately, under her leadership, misogyny grew at Planned Parenthood.
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