Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards gave an interview to Politico Magazine titled "Cecile Richards and the future of choice politics," in which she shot down Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Ben Ray Luján (N.M.) for saying there should be no litmus test on abortion for Democrats.
Luján's statement generated controversy within the Democratic Party, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) agreeing, and Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez disagreeing.
"It's a shocking sort of misunderstanding of actually where the country is … which is overwhelmingly supportive of abortion rights and also, who are the ground troops that kind of fuel the election of candidates," Richards told Politico in an interview published Tuesday.
Richards argued that it is possible for one to be against abortion personally but believe the government should not ban it.
"Fundamentally, perhaps [what] he's missing is, people can distinguish between their own personal feelings and what they believe government or politicians should do," Richards said.
Richards then claimed women in some of the most conservative areas of the country are against abortion restrictions.
"And people even in some of the most conservative areas of the country who may themselves personally say, 'I would never choose to have an abortion,' or, 'That's not something that's right for me,' also, absolutely do not believe politicians should be making decisions about pregnancy for women," Richards said.
Richards added that she would continue to talk to Luján about the issue.
"I think he's totally wrong and I'll use every opportunity to convince him of that," she said.
Richards quoted a woman saying, "I don't know how the Democratic Party thinks they'll get elected if they don't stand for anything."
She added, "So I think the danger of his remarks is they send a terrible message to people across the country about the lack of principles that some people the Democratic Party stand up about."
Later in the interview, Richards was asked whether she understood how a woman could be a Republican. She replied, "On this issue, the party has absolutely left them behind."
Richards also admitted she was afraid of Roe v. Wade being overturned, but expressed appreciation for "what difference it makes to have three women on the Supreme Court right now."
"That's something I'll never forget and always be grateful to President Obama for," she said.