Cecile Richards (YouTube)Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
On this feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, we’re reminded that God can convert even the hardest hearts. We can only hope this will be the case with Cecile Richards, CEO of Planned Parenthood, who is planning to step down after 12 years overseeing a company that has cost the life of more than seven million Americans.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, Richards, 60, reportedly told Planned Parenthood’s board that she plans to step down.
“Cecile plans to discuss 2018 and the next steps for Planned Parenthood’s future at the upcoming board meeting,” which is scheduled for next week, according to a statement released to BuzzFeed.
During her tenure at Planned Parenthood, the annual abortion rate jumped by 11 percent. When she assumed her position in 2006, the organization ended the lives of 289,750 children. By 2015, that number was up to 328,348. This amounts to a baby being aborted every 96 seconds.
Since 1978, Planned Parenthood aborted more than seven million Americans. Of that number, about three million died on Richards’ watch.
When taxpayers began to rebel against the idea of funding such an organization, Richards claimed that abortion was only three percent of the company’s business; however, this figure was arrived at through accounting gimmicks that even the liberal media criticized. In reality, their non-abortion services have been dwindling steadily over the years, confirming insider tales of pressure to meet internal abortion “quotas” because this is the most profitable part of the business.
But that’s not the end of the story of Richards’ deplorable tenure. She was also at the helm during the uncovering of evidence that Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers have been involved in the illegal selling of human body parts from aborted fetuses. Thanks to the dedicated work of The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), which shot the undercover videos that exposed the crime, Planned Parenthood is now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Cecile Richards was the most devoted practitioner of Planned Parenthood’s “out of sight, out of mind” mantra to cover up their barbaric abortion business from the public,” said CMP founder David Daleiden.
Concerned Women for America CEO and president Penny Nance, said that under Richard’s watch, business at Planned Parenthood placed “abortion above all else – while throwing aside any inkling of actual medical care.”
She continued: "Under Cecile's leadership, Planned Parenthood has been exposed for refusing to report statutory rape and abuse, for aiding sex traffickers, for taking money to abort black babies, and for illegally profiting off of the body parts they have aborted.”
Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, says it is “great news” that Richards is departing from Planned Parenthood and wonders if she’s trying to get out while she can.
“Could it be that Richards is getting out while she can, before indictments are handed down?” he asked.
“Or could it be that Planned Parenthood now sees her as a liability with all her connections to others under criminal investigation such as Hillary Clinton, the beleaguered Clinton Foundation, and Fusion GPS?” he asks. “Whether she is abandoning a sinking ship or being kicked to the curb by Planned Parenthood, this reveals a destabilized abortion organization, and as long as they are disorganized, it means they won’t be expanding their abortion empire.”
Richards’ departure raises the question of what kind of person will replace her.
Penny Nance is hopeful. "If Planned Parenthood is serious about standing up for the women they claim to represent, they will hire someone who understands medicine and accepts the facts that abortion does not help women but only inflicts harm and destruction,” Nance urged. “This is their chance to turn the organization around for the good and actually help women, instead of constantly telling them they cannot fulfill their dreams without abortion."
The 60 year-old Richards, who has been making at least $500,000 a year at Planned Parenthood, has not indicated what her retirement plans will be, although she is currently working on a memoir entitled, Making Trouble.
As He once did to St. Paul, let us pray that God will heal Ms. Richards of her blindness so that she can clearly see the error of her ways and not only come to full repentance, but become a tireless worker for life until the end of her days.
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