On Monday, Cecile Richards, the former head of Planned Parenthood and founder of the women’s political action group Supermajority, died at age 67 of brain cancer. In a press release about her passing, Planned Parenthood chronicled her career, recounting how over the 12 years she was in charge, Richards “led us through fights that transformed the reproductive health and rights landscape.” Richards, the group said, was “an indomitable force.”
Even with the inauguration of President Donald Trump dominating the news, tributes to Richards flooded social media. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote on X, “Her legacy will be the countless lives she touched and the generations of women she inspired to follow in her footsteps.” Former Vice President Kamala Harris noted on X, “Cecile Richards was a fighter and a force to be reckoned with.”
But not everyone was heartbroken about her passing. In some corners of social media, anti-abortion right-wing activists implied that her death was divine retribution for her activism on abortion rights.
To her nearly half-million followers on X, Allie Beth Stuckey, a conservative podcaster and author of a new book about how our culture suffers from a surfeit of empathy, wrote: “All I’ll say is that I’m thankful we serve a God of justice, who avenges the blood of the innocent. Cecile Richards, who cheerfully presided over the murder of millions of innocent babies, now understands that full well.”
Sean Davis, founder of right-wing publication the Federalist, echoed that sentiment. “Cecile Richards was a demonic, baby-killing monster who, absent repentance to and acceptance of Christ, is now reaping the eternal reward for the evil she committed on this earth,” he blasted to 539,000 followers on X. “God’s mercy is perfect, and so is His vengeance.”
“Cecile Richards was a demonic, baby-killing monster who, absent repentance to and acceptance of Christ, is now reaping the eternal reward for the evil she committed on this earth.”
Then there were the sentiments from Dusty Deevers, an Oklahoma state senator, who posted to his 25,000 followers on X that Richards’ death was evidence that “all who promote and profit from wickedness will one day stand before His throne.”
To some, the timing of her death, on the day Trump was inaugurated, seemed to bolster their hypothesis that her illness and passing were punishments from God.
Sean Feucht is a Christian musician and leader in the New Apostolic Reformation, a loose network of charismatic Christians who believe that Christians are called to take over the government. In a video Monday, Feucht, who has spent the last year leading prayer rallies at state capitals, called Richards’ death “crazy prophetic.” The video also featured Seattle-area pastor Russell Johnson, who told viewers, “We just saw on the news, to coordinate with the historic inauguration that’s happening in Washington, DC, the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, passed away today.” He continued, “I think, just reflecting on all of what President Trump has done for the pro-life movement, with the selection of pro-life Supreme Court judges and the overturning of Roe v. Wade…this is a real significant and prophetic moment.”
Another group of Christian nationalists, the TheoBros, also appeared to celebrate Richards’ passing. Brian Sauvé, a pastor at a church in Ogden, Utah, told his 62,000 followers on X that he had recently dedicated the “imprecatory” portion of his sermon to the leaders of Planned Parenthood. “I asked that God would cut them off and show them no mercy,” he wrote. “Praise God.”
One commenter suggested that Sauvé’s taking credit for Richards’ death might be a bit much, to which Sauvé responded: “God is responsible for his yes or no to all prayers. Try to think clearly, ma’am.”
