Q-and-A: Cecile Richards discusses birth control, women's health

Q: Why is the issue of birth control for women so important to you? What is it that motivates you?

A: I started out in my early days helping low-income women organize for better wages and healthcare. It’s something I’ve always believed in, and I think women’s healthcare is fundamental, and, unfortunately, there are still too many women in this country who don’t have access to affordable high-quality healthcare. And that’s what Planned Parenthood does. That’s what drew me to the organization.

Q: As you discussed, Planned Parenthood has run into some potential problems with funding this year and last year with the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure and the House Republicans threatening to cut funding. Has Planned Parenthood taken any steps recently to prevent such a crisis from happening again?

A: There are two different issues. The congressional vote was all about politics — it wasn’t really about anything else. That’s just a matter of who’s in office. During the Komen issue, we raised a lot of money from people around the country who wanted to make sure that women didn’t go without breast exams. Actually, as a result of the real generosity of some amazing people like Michael Bloomberg, Lance Armstrong and thousands of folks around the country, we’ll be able to do more breast exams this year than ever before.

Q: The recent debate about the birth control mandate has once again brought Planned Parenthood and other organizations and what they do into the forefront when it comes to women’s care. If you were in a room with President Obama and the archbishop of Washington, what would you say regarding this recent debate about birth control?

A: I think the president came down in a very reasoned and respectful place, which was [that] all churches — I think it’s more than 300,000 churches—are exempted from being required to provide birth control coverage. I thought that was a very generous interpretation. Actually, the requirement now is that birth control be covered by hospitals and institutions that serve the public and employ the public and themselves receive public dollars. And I think what we’re seeing is that the American people think that’s fair [and] Catholics think that’s fair. I think most people in this country believe that we’d be better off in America if more women had access to affordable birth control. And that’s what this is really about — just making sure insurance plans cover birth control.

Q: Women who question what Planned Parenthood does because of social conservatism, motivated by faith — what do you say to them?

A: Everyone has a right to their own opinion — that’s their business. The fact is that one in five women comes to Planned Parenthood for health services. We’re there to serve anyone, regardless of their own political opinion. We don’t feel like we’re a controversial organization, and we feel like the women who come to us come from every walk of life, as is their right. I think it’s just time we take politics out of the whole issue of women’s healthcare access.