Biden awards Medal of Freedom to former Planned Parenthood head outside public eye

President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to the former head of Planned Parenthood in a clandestine ceremony on Wednesday, angering pro-life activists who called the move cowardly as well as despicable.

Mr. Biden bestowed the honor to Cecile Richards, who was president of the nation’s leading abortion provider and a major pro-choice advocacy group from 2006 to 2018.

The ceremony was not listed on Mr. Biden’s public schedule, nor was his decision to award the medal to Ms. Richards publicly announced until after the presentation.

Members of the media were not invited to watch the ceremony, which was not live-streamed on the White House website.

The decision to bestow such a prestigious honor to Ms. Richards, angered abortion opponents.

“This honor marks a dark chapter in the late stages of one of other darkest presidencies in American history when it comes to protecting mothers and unborn children,” said Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote. “Planned Parenthood has used billions of taxpayer dollars to profit from the tragic extermination of millions of children, while exploiting the health and wellbeing of countless women.” 

Mr. Burch called abortion the “antithesis of freedom that no person of compassion or conscience should stoop to honor, let alone the President of the United States.”

Emily Erin Davis, vice president of communication for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, lamented that “the White House continues to promote abortion up to the bitter end.” 

“Under Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood ended more than 3.8 million unborn lives and was caught harvesting baby body parts for sale. Where is the ‘freedom’ for babies and moms? It’s time to end Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer-funded ride,” she said. 

Medal of Freedom presentations usually aren’t private.

In May, Mr. Biden presented the Medal of Freedom to former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Olympic champion swimmer Katie Ledecky and former Vice President Al Gore among others in a public ceremony that was both broadcast and attended by journalists.

Nevertheless, the White House trumpeted Ms. Richards as deserving of the award in a statement issued afterward.

“With absolute courage and conviction, Cecile Richards fearlessly leads us forward to be the America we say we are — a nation of freedom,” Mr. Biden said. “Carrying her parents’ torch for justice, she’s led some of our nation’s most important civil rights causes — to lift up the dignity of workers, defend and advance women’s reproductive rights and equality and mobilize Americans to exercise their power to vote.”

Mr. Biden described Ms. Richards as “a leader of the utmost character,” who has “carved an inspiring legacy that endures in her incredible family, the countless lives she has made better and a nation seeking the light of equality, justice and freedom.”

Ms. Richards was Planned Parenthood’s most visible spokesperson for more than a decade and is the daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, the last Democrat to hold that office.

She was embroiled in a 2015 scandal when it was revealed that a senior staff member was caught on video talking about how the organization had accepted money in exchange for providing fetal tissue to be used in medical research.

The revelation touched off a political firestorm and Ms. Richards apologized for the tone of the staff member and Planned Parenthood altered its fetal tissue sales policies in response. Selling fetal tissue for profit is illegal under U.S. law, though no prosecutions came of this instance.

Planned Parenthood has long been a lightning rod for criticism from pro-life activists, who have made cutting public funding for the group a major priority.

Although the Hyde Amendment makes it illegal for federal funds to pay for abortions, Planned Parenthood receives about a half-billion dollars in taxpayer funds, which it budgets to provide services such as contraception and cancer screenings for low-income women.