For over 20 years, Cecile Richards '80 has been a crusader for American women's reproductive rights. Now, as president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Richards continues to work vigorously to protect abortion rights. In a packed List 120 Thursday at noon, Richards discussed her views on reproductive rights and other healthcare issues, her experiences in the field and her concerns about the future of the United States' pro-choice movement.
Richards' political activism began during her time as a Brown undergraduate. Though she was not involved in reproductive health issues while on College Hill, she was actively involved in other hot-button political issues of the early 1980s.
"This really dates me, but I was really involved in the divestiture from South Africa movement, and I lobbied against the building of the Seabrook Nuclear Plant in Seabrook, N.H.," she told The Herald. "I lost the second battle."
In her lecture, Richards spoke not only about reproductive rights, but also expressed concern about the current state of health care in the nation, the 2008 presidential election and the need for greater organization at the grassroots level among pro-choice proponents.
Richards also spoke about the politicization of choice and reproductive freedom, which she said are primarily health issues that have no place in the political arena.
"It's been this way for a long time," she said of the controversy over reproductive rights. "There's a small but vocal minority that doesn't want women to have the right to access birth control."
She also suggested that political wrangling over the issue is far from a moral or an ideological battle. Rather, she said, the issue has been raised by the political right as a "wedge issue," a bone of contention intended to divide Americans and "garner votes."
She also charged anti-abortion activists with promoting a double standard. "Those who oppose choice usually tend to oppose other programs that would help children," she said, citing such examples as school lunch programs, state and federally supported child care programs and children's healthcare legislation recently vetoed by President Bush.
"The U.S. should focus on taking care of children that are already here as well as preventing future unwanted pregnancies," Richards said.
But Richards said she does not believe that the American public is buying into these divisive politics, and she described the United States as being a fundamentally "pro-choice country" that respects a woman's right to choose irrespective of the circumstances.
Richards also voiced her concern about state and federal courts' increasing role in shaping reproductive health policies through adjudication and the Supreme Court's apparent steps toward overturning Roe v. Wade, such as the Court's recent decision to uphold the ban on partial-birth abortion.
"The freedom to choose hangs in the balance," she said. "Right now the Court is 5-4, and there is always the possibility of new (conservative) appointees to the Supreme Court."
Even if Roe v. Wade is not overturned on the federal level, Richards said states' own stringent limits on access to birth control and abortions are threatening women's right to choose. Some states, she said, are anticipating an eventual overturn of Roe v. Wade and have preemptively instituted laws that will immediately outlaw abortion if that 1973 ruling is overturned.
Though she seemed to have some reservations about the nation's direction on a number of issues, Richards was optimistic about the implications of the upcoming presidential election, calling it "historic."
"I encourage all of you to volunteer for a campaign," she said. She called former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the only pro-abortion rights Republican candidate, an exciting candidate.
Despite the heated debates surrounding reproductive rights, Richards said she embraces her role.
"As an activist, if I'm not pissing someone off, I'm not doing my job," she said. "There are many people who oppose this right and turn to harassment and intimidation in order to get their point across. But (Planned Parenthood) serves over 5 million patients yearly, and that's what really counts."
