Planned Parenthood President Calls for America’s Government to Change to ‘Representative Democracy’

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. testifies duri
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Dr. Susan Berry

Departing Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards is calling for America’s government to change to a “representative democracy.”

Speaking at a “State of Our Union” event Tuesday in Washington, DC – scheduled to coincide with President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address – Richards said, “If the government won’t change, we will change the government.”

Richards says the government must provide for women who want abortions and free birth control, as well as for illegal immigrants, LGBT individuals, and Black Lives Matter supporters.

“The good news is, like never before, women are the most powerful political force in this country,” she added, reports the Washington Times.

In her 12 years at the helm of Planned Parenthood, Richards has turned the organization into one that many say has placed “abortion above all else.”

Her work as a leader of the women’s resistance march against Trump became a central focus after failed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost her bid for the White House in 2016. Richards and her organization had endorsed Clinton, and Planned Parenthood’s president campaigned vigorously for her.

Left-wing news outlets are suggesting Richards will consider running for office as she steps down from her post at Planned Parenthood, but, for now, she tells the New York Times she is “not thinking of running for anything.”

Through the women’s march movement, Richards is working to get more women elected to public office.

“It is really distressing to see the lack of empathy and, frankly, caring, of politicians,” she said about the attitude she perceives toward women who want abortions and free birth control.

“If we had more people in Congress who could get pregnant, we wouldn’t be arguing over access to reproductive healthcare,” she told attn.com.

“President Trump is really appealing to, I think, the most extreme elements of the Republican Party,” she said.

Under Richards’ tenure, the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a formal investigation into the abortion vendor in the wake of allegations that Planned Parenthood has profited from harvesting the body parts of babies aborted in its clinics.

Additionally, Planned Parenthood’s own annual report, released earlier this month, shows the organization continues to perform over 320,000 abortions per year while it boosted its profits in 2016-2017 by $21 million – or 27 percent – from the previous year. The group also took in nearly $544 million in taxpayer funding, though the number of many of its non-abortion services has significantly declined.

“Under the leadership of Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood has grown to push one agenda – abortion above all else – while throwing aside any inkling of actual medical care,” Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, said in a statement sent to Breitbart News.

A recent Marist poll found that 76 percent of Americans – including 92 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of independents, and 61 percent of Democrats – would restrict abortion to, at most, the first trimester of pregnancy.

Additionally, 51 percent of Americans identify as “pro-choice,” but even 60 percent of those agree with substantial restrictions on abortion.

The poll also finds that 63 percent would prohibit abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, while 60 percent oppose the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.

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