Planned Parenthood Federation President and CEO Cecile Richards recently received a standing ovation while delivering a lecture at Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher education in the United States.
Speaking at a packed auditorium amid protests from pro-life students and the archbishop of Washington, Richards defended the rights of women to have an abortion and also her organisation's stance on respecting women's reproductive decisions, Religion News Service (RNS) reports.
Georgetown University blocked concerned Catholics and reporters from attending the campus lecture of Richards, who was introduced by the student group H*yas for Choice, according to a tweet from the group's Twitter page.
"I think she did an incredible job understanding how people can have very different religious and political backgrounds but come together knowing that women should have the overall choice over their own bodies," said Makaiah Mohler, a senior at the Jesuit school.
Richards used the occasion to air her pro-abortion rhetoric, the report says.
She once again denied that Planned Parenthood sold foetal tissue and claimed abortion is a "basic human right.''
The Hoya, a Georgetown newspaper, tweeted some of Richards' comments, including her statement that "the decision to have a child is the most personal...we believe this is not decision to be made by politicians," RNS reports.
Outside the 400-seat auditorium, pro-life students held a demonstration protesting Richards presence and calling to defund her organisation.
As early as March when the Cardinal Newman Society broke the news of Richards' possible speaking engagement at Georgetown, some Catholics, including Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl, quickly opposed the idea, saying it was "not within the Catholic tradition for a university to provide a special platform to those voices that promote or support issues such as abortion."
The Catholic Standard, the Archdiocese newspaper, described Richards' lecture as an "outrageous event."
However, the administration of Georgetown University refused to rescind their invitation, according to Lifesite News.
In defending their invitation, Georgetown University said in a statement that they are committed to "the free exchange of ideas, even when those ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable to some."
But Junior Reed Howard, who attended the talk, lamented Richards' hesitance to respond to opposing views during the brief question-and-answer period, says RNS.
"I don't think that today's event represented a free exchange of ideas or a spirit of dialogue. Instead, Cecile Richards was given a platform to spew her beliefs unchallenged."
Prior to her speech, students from Vita Saxa, an anti-abortion group marking Life Week at Georgetown, planted rows and rows of small blue and pink flags on a campus green. The group said the flags "represent the 3,562 lives lost in the U.S. to abortion each day."
The Students for Life of America also erected a "We Don't Need Planned Parenthood" display outside the hall where Richards spoke in response to undercover videos that reportedly show Planned Parenthood officials illegally negotiating to sell organs recovered from abortion.
H*yas for Choice is responsible for numerous scandals at Georgetown such as hosting "choice weeks,'' protesting pro-life conferences and pushing for contraception distribution on campus, according to LifeSite News.
