Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards appeared on stage at the Oscars Sunday during a musical performance by the rapper Common and singer Andra Day. The singers performed their Oscar-nominated song “Stand Up For Something,” customizing it for the ceremony and including a lyric saying the NRA was “in God’s way.”
Richards stood on stage during the performance alongside nine other political activists including Patrisse Cullors, the founder of Black Lives Matter.
Before the show, Common explained “the activists we asked to join us on stage are people who have dedicated their lives to making the world better. For some because their own personal experiences have driven them to this place, and some because they’ve seen the injustices going on in the world and felt they had to take action.”
Planned Parenthood performed 321,384 abortions over this past year, according to their latest annual report. Since Richards took the helm in 2006, the number of abortions Planned Parenthood performs each year increased by nearly 11 percent. Richards is stepping down from her post in May.
In a red carpet interview, Richards said her 12 years leading the nation’s largest abortion provider have been “the honor of a lifetime.”
I really want to fight for women,” she said. “I feel like women are the most important political force in this country right now, and I think there are women who will continue the work at Planned Parenthood.”
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When asked what gives her hope, Richards replied, “it’s the next generation. The fact that we are seeing young women, women in their teens who are now advocating for their rights, advocating for their communities…they give me hope, we just need to support them.”
The abortion giant is a favorite group for Hollywood when it comes to fundraising and activism. Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Poehler, Judd Apatow, and many other prominent celebrities starred in a video last June calling on the public to ask their representatives not to defund the nation’s largest abortion provider.
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