Richards: WP Fails to Credit Reproductive Justice Leadership to Repeal Hyde Amendment

(August 17, 2016) The Washington Post recently profiled Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) President Cecile Richards, highlighting PPFA's efforts to repeal the Hyde Amendment and restore full Medicaid coverage for abortion.  In a letter written to the Post, Richards states that the article "overstated" her role and "did not do justice to our broad movement."  She writes:

As with any bold movement, ours is being fueled by a generation of activists and leaders — primarily women of color — who are challenging the country, and all of us, to be unapologetic champions for the rights of all people to access abortion and reproductive care with a lens of social justice. The roots of this supposedly newfound boldness lie in the reproductive justice movement, which formally began 22 years ago this November, and which generated the growth across the country of organizing primarily led by women of color that has turned conventional attitudes and organizations on their heads.

Richards notes that the work to address the oppression of women of color did "didn’t start with Planned Parenthood. And many justifiably feel we have been late to the show."  She states that it is time that reproductive justice leaders and women of color led organizations "get the recognition and credit that is long overdue."