By Dave Andrusko
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards
As of this afternoon, it’s still in the “according to sources” realm, but Buzzfeed earlier today first reported that Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards is stepping down as president of the over $1.4 billion dollar “non-profit.”
Ruby Cramer and Ema O’Connor cited “two sources familiar with the matter” for their conclusion that Richards “is planning to step down from her role as president after more than a decade at the helm.”
NBC News’s Dartunorro Clark and Andrea Mitchell came to the same conclusion, “according to two sources.” They added,
“It is not immediately clear when Richards, who joined the organization as president in 2006, plans to leave, but she has conveyed her plans to several of Planned Parenthood’s board members, the sources said.”
A spokesman for Planned Parenthood declined to confirm that Richards is stepping down, but said in an emailed statement that she “plans to discuss 2018 and the next steps for Planned Parenthood’s future at the upcoming board meeting.”
That meeting will occur next week, the sources close to Richards said.
In a great understatement, Buzzfeed noted, “Richards’ plans come at a tumultuous time for abortion rights activists.” Cramer and O’Connor also mentioned the uproar caused by the undercover investigation videos taken by the Center for Medical Progress (which news outlets inevitably dub “heavily edited,” exactly PPFA’s phraseology):
Richards has also led the organization through major scandal, following the release of secretly recorded and heavily edited videos made by anti–abortion rights activist David Daleiden in 2015. The videos accused the organization of profiting off of the sale of fetal tissue to procurement firms and labs for scientific research. These videos launched five congressional investigations and more than a dozen state investigations into Planned Parenthood, none of which found evidence of wrongdoing. Just last month, the Justice Department sent a letter to members of Congress requesting their records from those investigations, a sign that the Trump administration may be taking another look at the issue.
But there are compensations. For fiscal year 2014, “Richards pocketed a whopping $957,952 in annual take-home pay,” according to Texas Right to Life, citing Planned Parenthood’s IRS Form 990. In 2016, the largest abortion provider in the United States, took the lives of 321,384 unborn babies.
Buzzfeed shrewdly observed the real difference Richards can be credit with making: raising money hand over fist and embedding abortion in the DNA of the Democratic Party:
During her time as president, Richards greatly expanded the organization’s fundraising and organizing capabilities — and helped raise the its profile through celebrity-oriented campaigns and increased political participation. Over the past decade in particular, Democrats have further embraced abortion rights as a central part of the party’s platform — a shift that can be credited in large part to Planned Parenthood’s increased prominence under Richards.
Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, NRLC’s director of education & research and an expert on Planned Parenthood, will have a more in-depth story tomorrow.