In a private ceremony on Wednesday, President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Freedom to Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood. Established by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, this honor is awarded by the president of the United States and is “the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”
Previous honorees of the Medal of Freedom include Walt Disney, Neil Armstrong, Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, Jackie Robinson, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Roberto Clemente, Dr. Ben Carson, and Justice Antonin Scalia. It is hard to imagine Cecile Richards’s name should be added to this list.
Cecile Richards was president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018. In her first annual report, Richards noted, “Our policy agenda focuses on preventing unintended pregnancies through effective and well-funded family planning programs and protecting the health of our teens through real sex education. “
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When Richards came into office, the abortion titan carried out 264,943 abortions per year and performed 844,201 breast exams. One year later, in the annual report, she noted, “Increasingly diverse communities across America have differing health care needs, and we continue to adapt to help meet them.”
By “adapt to help meet them,” Richards meant Planned Parenthood was going to decrease any actual health care services and increase the number of unborn children they killed.
During her last full year as president, in 2017, Planned Parenthood expanded the “services” they provide to include permanently damaging cross-sex hormones for people with gender dysphoria. She dedicated that year to “defiance, and the power of the Planned Parenthood family.” That’s ironic, given that all the work she did was intended to destroy the family.
When she left in 2018, Planned Parenthood performed just 296,310 breast exams each year — a 65% decrease from when she began. Even more tragically, that year, Planned Parenthood killed 332,757 unborn babies through abortion. Richards increased the number of abortions Planned Parenthood carried out each year by almost 70,000. During her time as president, Planned Parenthood killed over four million babies through the atrocity of abortion and broke the hearts of countless mothers and fathers.
Nothing Cecile Richards has done meets the definition of “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States.” There is no doubt she does not deserve the Presidential Medal of Freedom. But she does need our prayers.
This past year, Richards revealed that she is battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer — one that typically claims the lives of its victims in under a year and a half. In an Instagram post on her diagnosis, Richards wrote, “In my experience, having cancer doesn’t suddenly fill you with profound insights on life. What it does is make it really clear what’s important. And there is no more important work right now than fighting for abortion rights … After all, as my mother used to say, ‘Why should your life be just about you?’”
While none of us know the time nor the hour, it seems that instead of working to further abortion rights, Richards should prepare to meet our Maker. She, like the rest of us, will be judged as to how she treated the least of these. Her mom was right, your life shouldn’t just be about you.
Each of us should pray daily for Cecile Richard’s healing — not just of her body, but also of her soul. We should pray for her to repent. We know that conversion is real — Saul became Paul. Our God is a loving and forgiving Father, and there is no sin too great for His mercy.
Let us pray for a miracle — for Cecile Richards to recognize her role in championing the culture of death, to repent, to spend her last moments fighting for the unborn, and to one day receive a reward far greater than the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Originally published at The Washington Stand.
Mary Szoch serves as the Director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council. In this position, Mary researches, writes, and coordinates collaborative efforts with other pro-life advocates on policies surrounding life and human dignity.
