A former head of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, said that women are “unstoppable” when they can have abortions. She said this in a speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago on Wednesday night.
“Women are powerful when they are free to live their lives as they please and follow their dreams.” Richards, who was president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018, said, “But when Roe v. Wade was overturned, a generation of young people lost that right.”
Richards then seemed to say that a 12-year-old rape survivor in Mississippi should have had an abortion instead of having a baby, while she was happy about the birth of her own grandchild.
“Like Ashley, a 12-year-old female rape victim from Mississippi. Due to the fact that her state does not allow abortions, she began seventh grade with a baby. That’s what Republicans say about state’s rights,” Richards said.
“I became a grandma last year. And I cared more about my daughter’s health than anything else while she was pregnant. Politics should never get in the way of someone getting medical care or a family feeling the joy that my grandson Teddy has brought into my life,” she said. She then called for the election of Kamala Harris, who has refused to say what abortion limits she supports.
Richards told people in January that she has brain cancer, but she said she will keep fighting for an abortion even though she is sick.
Planned Parenthood and Democrats have worked together for a long time. The abortion giant’s political arm funds Democratic candidates, and Democrats in Congress work nonstop to pass laws that allow abortions throughout pregnancy across the country. Additionally, even though limits on abortion are being considered across the country, the number of abortions has actually gone up since the Supreme Court rejected Roe v. Wade.
A lot of Planned Parenthood groups across the US are trying to get abortion on the ballot in almost a dozen states right now. The bills would write the right to have an abortion during pregnancy into the constitutions of several states. Democrats are betting that these steps will get more people to vote and change the outcome of the election in their favor.
Through its mobile “health” center, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers also said it would do 25 free abortions outside of the DNC this week.
