Richards, who plans to step down as CEO of the nonprofit organization later this year, has detailed her meeting with the daughter and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump in her book, "Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out and Finding the Courage to Lead," which was released Tuesday.
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In the book, Richards reveals that, in an apparent bid to deliver a "political win," the pair suggested during a meeting shortly after Donald Trump's inauguration that federal funding for Planned Parenthood could increase if the organization agreed to cease abortion services.
"In their eyes, if they could stop Planned Parenthood from providing abortions, it would confirm their reputation as savvy dealmakers," Richards wrote, as quoted by People magazine. "The main issue, [Kushner] explained, was abortion. If Planned Parenthood wanted to keep our federal funding, we would have to stop providing abortions."
When the meeting was first reported, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood told CNN that from the organization's perspective, the purpose of the meeting was to make sure Ivanka fully understood the organization's role in providing health care to millions of people and why they shouldn't be prevented from accessing care at Planned Parenthood locations.
Richards writes in her book that after her meeting with Ivanka and Kushner, she told a colleague that the deal "felt almost like a bribe."
Planned Parenthood receives $500 million every year in federal funding for non-abortion services. In April 2017, Trump signed a bill allowing states to withhold federal money from organizations that provide abortion services, including Planned Parenthood.
