Progressive community organizers and politicians are urging departing Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards to run for office, reports BuzzFeed News.
“F**k yeah she should run for office!” Alicia Garza, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement told BuzzFeed News. “We’ve basically made a whole plan for her campaign without her.”
Richards addressed attendees of an event called the “State of OUR Union” Tuesday evening, scheduled to coincide with President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to the nation.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) reportedly told BuzzFeed News Richards would be an “extraordinary elected leader,” and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), said she would “love to see [Richards] run.”
Similarly, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) reportedly said of Richards, “She would be an amazing candidate if she wanted to run.”
Former Bill Clinton political consultant Paul Begala said if Richards ran for office she would be a “conviction politician,” which, he added, “sadly is a rare species.”
“She is both principled and charming, which is a powerful combination,” he reportedly said. “I suspect even voters who disagreed with her would respect her for her convictions.”
Under Richards’ tenure, the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a formal investigation into Planned Parenthood in the wake of allegations that the abortion vendor 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.
Richards, however, recently told the New York Times she is “not thinking of running for anything.”
In her address Tuesday evening, she called upon the government of the United States to change to a “representative democracy” that focuses on the needs of women who want abortions and free birth control, as well as illegal immigrants, LGBT individuals, and Black Lives Matter supporters.
Currently, Richards is working to get more women elected to public office with the hope that more women will share her priorities.
“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.
CEO and President of Concerned Women for America Penny Nance, however, said in a statement sent to Breitbart News: “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.”
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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