The President of Planned Parenthood Just Dropped Nonpartisan Truth Bombs All Over The Daily Show

Cecile Richards, the President of Planned Parenthood, went on The Daily Show last night to talk about all the news surrounding the proposed defunding of the organization. As Trevor Noah put it, “I hear that phrase so much, it sounds like ‘Defund Planned Parenthood’ is the new name of the organization.” But Richards says she’s not tired, she’s energized, due in large part to the outpouring of support they’ve seen since the election. She says she’s heard you can’t even get a call through to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office anymore, the phones are so clogged with people calling with their concern. (Not that that means you shouldn’t try!)

And why is that? Why are so many women concerned about the potential defunding of Planned Parenthood? Well, for starters, the replacement systems of care the GOP is promising (during their clandestine middle-of-the night meetings) simply would not work. The community care centers the Republicans say PP’s money would be diverted to have said they can’t handle the number of patients Planned Parenthood serves, and to try would cost the taxpayers at least $130 million.

Here are some of the reasons why we need Planned Parenthood, as Richards reminds us:

• Over the last eight years of the Obama administration, 55 million women were covered for birth control with no copay.
• We’re at a 30 year low for unintended pregnancies.
• It’s an “historic low” in teenage pregnancies.

All of that, as Richards says, is “largely because women have better access to family planning.” Wouldn’t it make sense to just accept that Planned Parenthood is “the solution, not the problem”?

Planned Parenthood provides incredible care for millions of women every year. The fight to keep that access to health care has become political, but the care itself? That has nothing to do with politics, at least no more so than a man scheduling a  prostate exam is political. The women who visit Planned Parenthood are just after their basic human rights.

As Richards puts it, “they’re not coming to make a political statement. They’re coming because they need high-quality, affordable healthcare, and that’s what we provide.”

There’s an extended interview you can watch below, which I recommend if you have a few extra minutes, in no small part simply for this moment:

Oh, and if you’re brain went to the same place mine did, then yes! You can buy that awesome, classy Planned Parenthood pin Richards is wearing (or at least something like it). I just got mine. Because basic human rights are hella fashionable.

(via Comedy Central, image via screengrab)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

twitter