Planned Parenthood President Vows to Fight for Funding
AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program. Tonight from New York, in just 11 days, Barack Obama will hand over the presidential baton to Donald Trump. And the country, indeed the world is bracing for major change. One organization in particular is worried about his very existence and that is Planned Parenthood. A non-profit group dedicated to providing reproductive health services across the United States. The Republicans in power are threatening to pull federal funding because it provides abortions. Though by law, no government money is used to pay for them. Its president Cecile Richards tweets that she won't be going down without a fight and she's joining me now from Washington.</s>AMANPOUR: Cecile Richards, welcome to the program.</s>CECILE RICHARDS, PRESIDENT, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Thank you. Thanks for having me.</s>AMANPOUR: You know, we broadcast to an international audience and I think that people around the world would be very, very bemused and alarmed to know how much of policy in the United States revolves around abortion. Can you state, you know, state for the record Planned Parenthood does or doesn't provide abortions based on money it gets from the federal government?</s>RICHARDS: Well, as you said, Christian, the federal government in the U.S. does not provide funding for abortion services. Hasn't for years. We think that's wrong, but that's the law. And so what we're talking about now in fact and what Paul Ryan, Speaker Ryan, said the other day, is now they're going to end access to Planned Parenthood preventive care. That means birth control, cancer screenings, well- women visits. We provide health care to 2.5 million people every single year and that health care is now at risk.</s>AMANPOUR: Cecille, you know, this is so political and it's not really about thinking about people's health. Give me an idea, you've just had the issues that will be at risk. How many people -- give me the stats of you're able to achieve with Planned Parenthood.</s>RICHARDS: Well, it's extraordinary. I mean, we've been around 100 years. We're the primary women's health care provider in the United States of America. And, frankly, under Obamacare, one of the most popular benefits we fought for was birth control coverage for women. Now 55 million women get it at no co-pay. That is at risk. But as a result of the work we've done, we are at a 30 year low for unintended pregnancy in America. And so the crazy thing is, Christian, about this new effort to end that access to family planning at Planned Parenthood, it is the very thing that is reducing unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion in the United States. It's really a problem when politicians put their politics ahead of women's health care in America. And I can tell you this is not what voters voted for. This is not even what Trump voters voted for. They are shocked to find out that this administration would consider ending access to Planned Parenthood.</s>AMANPOUR: You say that, and I was actually going ask you because, you know, 52 percent of White American women did vote for Donald Trump versus 43 percent for Hillary Clinton. And, you know, politics as you say is being played with this. What do you think the result will be? What do you think the effect will be on women around the country, in other words in terms of will they fight back, what can they do? Is this really going to go through, do you think?</s>RICHARDS: Well, I absolutely -- women are fighting back. Not only women, but men, as well. And as you know, there is a big march on Washington coinciding with the inauguration. What we have seen at Planned Parenthood has been extraordinary. The largest outpouring of support particularly among young women and men. We've had a 900 percent increase in women trying to get into Planned Parenthood to get an IUD, because they are desperately concerned that they might lose their access to health care and they know that Planned Parenthood is the place that can provide it. So women in this country are absolutely not going without a fight and the majority is with us.</s>AMANPOUR: Cecile, your mother was the world famous governor of Texas. And you, apparently, according to your bio, became an activist at the early age of 12 years old. Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in Congress, has once said that you could have been president if you had run. Are you going to be at this march? How important is this march?</s>RICHARDS: I am going to be at the march. I'm proud to be there. I think that hundreds of thousands of folks will be and all around the country. But I think, Christian, what we're talking about is more than a march. I think what's important is that women and men who are concerned about the future of women's rights and women's health in the U.S., that they make their voices heard in whatever way, whether they march or whether they call their member of Congress, call their senators. These are votes that are going to be taken very, very soon. And the access to not only the Planned Parenthood services but to women's health care is very much at risk. It's incredibly important that the grass roots of America that did not vote for this rise up and make sure that people in Washington hear them.</s>AMANPOUR: And do you think that voice will be heard? I mean, let's face it, I mean, this kind of assault on Planned Parenthood and the services provided has been going on for years all the way back to the Reagan administration and it even affects funding to other countries, the whole Mexico City rule and all the rest of it. How much of an international impact does this politicking with health care have?</s>RICHARDS: Well, of course, we're concerned that any rights that women lose in the U.S. will have a cascading effect around the globe. And it's important, Christian, abortion has been legal in the United States for more than 40 years. It is accepted law. It is accepted right. And so it would be obviously enormous -- it would be devastating to the women of America to overturn Roe vs. Wade or for women to lose access to basic family planning. I don't think that's where we're going to go, but it's going to take people in this country speaking up and speaking out. And as you said earlier, this is not a partisan issue. The women who come to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings or for family planning services, they're of all political parties, they're of every walk of life and it's important that the one in five women in America who have been to Planned Parenthood make sure they speak up right now in Washington.</s>AMANPOUR: Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, thanks for joining us and you have a real fight on your hands. Thanks for being here.</s>RICHARDS: Good to see you. Thanks.</s>AMANPOUR: So Hillary Clinton as we know was a big supporter of Planned Parenthood and vice versa. At a rare post-election sighting yesterday, she attended the final night of "The Color Purple," a play here on Broadway. And she received several standing ovations. She was with the former President Bill Clinton. And that of course was in striking contrast to what happened to Vice President-elect Mike Pence two months ago, who was booed by patrons when he went to see the smash hit "Hamilton," while the cast besieged him to protect everyone's civil rights. Next from stage to the big screen, imagine Hollywood taking on Trump. And Meryl Streep's starring role in the latest flare-up of the culture wars. That's next.