Planned Parenthood regional CEO mourns Hortman, fights facility threats
Ruth Richardson, CEO of Plant Parenthood speaks before the ceremonial signing of the PRO Act at the Minnesota Department of Revenue.
Kerem Yücel | MPR News 2023
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Audio transcript
PRESENTER: A note on this next segment-- our guest mistakenly identified Yvette Hoffman by the wrong name. Yvette Hoffman is the wife of Senator John Hoffman.
NINA MOINI: As the investigation into Vance Boelter unfolded, we learned that there were lists of potential targets in his vehicle. And they included officials, businesses, and Planned Parenthood locations. Amid the manhunt, Planned Parenthood increased patrols at all their facilities.
Ruth Richardson is the CEO of Planned Parenthood of North Central states as well as a former Minnesota state legislator. She's on the line to talk about the threats to Planned Parenthood and remember her former colleague, Melissa Hortman, who was killed last weekend. Thank you very much for being with us this afternoon, Ruth.
RUTH RICHARDSON: Thank you for having me, Nina.
NINA MOINI: You and I have talked many times. I'm so sorry that it's under these circumstances. If you want to, I would love for you to share how you are reflecting on your relationship with Melissa Hortman at this time.
RUTH RICHARDSON: When I think about the impact and the legacy that Melissa leaves behind, it is truly a phenomenal one. I think about being elected to the House for the first time. And one of the first interactions I had with Melissa after being elected was she invited me to a dinner with former Vice President Walter Mondale.
And she was an incredible mentor. She was someone who took the time to get to know you personally and did absolutely everything that she could to ensure that those that were coming behind her had the supports that they needed to be successful as a legislator.
NINA MOINI: And I also, of course, want to mention for our audience that state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, very thankfully, are recovering-- also wanted to give you an opportunity to say [INAUDIBLE]. I don't know if you all worked closely since you were in the House-- but if you wanted to share anything as well.
RUTH RICHARDSON: Yes-- worked with Senator Hoffman as well. We both did a lot of work around human rights and disability rights, and so had a number of opportunities to have interactions and connections with him. And we are just sending all of our love and support to both he and Yvonne, and hope, as they are navigating through what will be an extensive recovery.
NINA MOINI: If you want, could you talk to us about when and how you were notified that Planned Parenthood locations were possible targets this weekend? Planned Parenthood, I'm sure, has been targeted before. In this instance, how did it feel? How were you notified?
RUTH RICHARDSON: Well, as a former legislator and now leading Planned Parenthood North Central States, I-- this is not the first time that there have been threats-- thinking of personal threats related to being in the legislature, threats that I've received as CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. And very early that morning, I was notified of a horrific news, that chair-- that Melissa and Mark had been shot and that Yvonne and John had been shot, as well, and, not even being able to process through that in the moment, was also made aware that my name also appeared on that list as well.
And as I mentioned, it's not the first time. And it's surreal when you are trying to navigate a really painful moment of the grief of losing an amazing friend-- Melissa has touched so many lives-- as well as her husband, Mark, while also simultaneously thinking about trying to keep your family safe as well.
NINA MOINI: It must be difficult to assess how to increase security, where to go when you learn of something like this. Would you share with us which locations might have been specifically targeted, or if it was just individuals? And what were your steps at that point? I understand we mentioned at the top had increased controls as an organization. But no locations were closed and hours were changed while the manhunt for the shooter was underway. Can you explain what the thought process was there?
RUTH RICHARDSON: So one of the things that I will say about our security protocols-- they're always more effective when they are not fully public. There were some hours that were shifted at some of our locations while the manhunt was going on. And what we did that publicly people can see is continued to work with local law enforcement to ensure that we were increasing patrols at our health center locations.
The work that we do every single day at Planned Parenthood North Central States-- it's an environment where our staff are often driving through, walking through protesters on a daily basis as they are doing this work. The unfortunate reality in this environment of where we see this increased political violence and increase of violent rhetoric is something that we are, unfortunately, seeing more of.
And with this new administration actively doing work to do enforcement of the FACE Act, for example, pardoning individuals who have been convicted of FACE Act violations that have attacked Planned Parenthood staff, staff at other providers of abortion services, harassed patients, knowing that there is going to be less enforcement of those things is a real concern in this environment where we see just devastating news with what happened with Melissa and Mark and John.
NINA MOINI: Yes. Yvette and John Hoffman, again, recovering-- and we're so glad for that. It's striking to hear you say this because so many people in the past few days have said, will people want to run for political office? What will happen now if people feel this type of just elevated fear? Perhaps that also applies to people who want to go into working with Planned Parenthood or working with topics around abortion. What do you say to your staff and to others who might be exploring a career path about why you do this work, why this work continues, and why it is important to you and others?
RUTH RICHARDSON: Well, I would start with saying that our staff, our patients-- they all deserve to be able to provide access to care and to receive care free from the threat of violence. No one should be put into a position of where they are unsafe while they are going to work or they're going to their health care providers.
As I mentioned before, the unfortunate reality that we find ourselves in, we know what it's like to be targets of political violence. And every day, our staff, who are strong-- they are resilient. They show up every day for our patients and for the participants in our programs because everyone deserves access to the health care that they need in order for them to thrive.
NINA MOINI: Ruth Richardson, thank you very much for your time this afternoon and coming by and both sharing about your friend, and also about your work. We really appreciate your time.
RUTH RICHARDSON: Thank you, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That was Planned Parenthood of North Central States CEO Ruth Richardson.
NINA MOINI: As the investigation into Vance Boelter unfolded, we learned that there were lists of potential targets in his vehicle. And they included officials, businesses, and Planned Parenthood locations. Amid the manhunt, Planned Parenthood increased patrols at all their facilities.
Ruth Richardson is the CEO of Planned Parenthood of North Central states as well as a former Minnesota state legislator. She's on the line to talk about the threats to Planned Parenthood and remember her former colleague, Melissa Hortman, who was killed last weekend. Thank you very much for being with us this afternoon, Ruth.
RUTH RICHARDSON: Thank you for having me, Nina.
NINA MOINI: You and I have talked many times. I'm so sorry that it's under these circumstances. If you want to, I would love for you to share how you are reflecting on your relationship with Melissa Hortman at this time.
RUTH RICHARDSON: When I think about the impact and the legacy that Melissa leaves behind, it is truly a phenomenal one. I think about being elected to the House for the first time. And one of the first interactions I had with Melissa after being elected was she invited me to a dinner with former Vice President Walter Mondale.
And she was an incredible mentor. She was someone who took the time to get to know you personally and did absolutely everything that she could to ensure that those that were coming behind her had the supports that they needed to be successful as a legislator.
NINA MOINI: And I also, of course, want to mention for our audience that state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, very thankfully, are recovering-- also wanted to give you an opportunity to say [INAUDIBLE]. I don't know if you all worked closely since you were in the House-- but if you wanted to share anything as well.
RUTH RICHARDSON: Yes-- worked with Senator Hoffman as well. We both did a lot of work around human rights and disability rights, and so had a number of opportunities to have interactions and connections with him. And we are just sending all of our love and support to both he and Yvonne, and hope, as they are navigating through what will be an extensive recovery.
NINA MOINI: If you want, could you talk to us about when and how you were notified that Planned Parenthood locations were possible targets this weekend? Planned Parenthood, I'm sure, has been targeted before. In this instance, how did it feel? How were you notified?
RUTH RICHARDSON: Well, as a former legislator and now leading Planned Parenthood North Central States, I-- this is not the first time that there have been threats-- thinking of personal threats related to being in the legislature, threats that I've received as CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. And very early that morning, I was notified of a horrific news, that chair-- that Melissa and Mark had been shot and that Yvonne and John had been shot, as well, and, not even being able to process through that in the moment, was also made aware that my name also appeared on that list as well.
And as I mentioned, it's not the first time. And it's surreal when you are trying to navigate a really painful moment of the grief of losing an amazing friend-- Melissa has touched so many lives-- as well as her husband, Mark, while also simultaneously thinking about trying to keep your family safe as well.
NINA MOINI: It must be difficult to assess how to increase security, where to go when you learn of something like this. Would you share with us which locations might have been specifically targeted, or if it was just individuals? And what were your steps at that point? I understand we mentioned at the top had increased controls as an organization. But no locations were closed and hours were changed while the manhunt for the shooter was underway. Can you explain what the thought process was there?
RUTH RICHARDSON: So one of the things that I will say about our security protocols-- they're always more effective when they are not fully public. There were some hours that were shifted at some of our locations while the manhunt was going on. And what we did that publicly people can see is continued to work with local law enforcement to ensure that we were increasing patrols at our health center locations.
The work that we do every single day at Planned Parenthood North Central States-- it's an environment where our staff are often driving through, walking through protesters on a daily basis as they are doing this work. The unfortunate reality in this environment of where we see this increased political violence and increase of violent rhetoric is something that we are, unfortunately, seeing more of.
And with this new administration actively doing work to do enforcement of the FACE Act, for example, pardoning individuals who have been convicted of FACE Act violations that have attacked Planned Parenthood staff, staff at other providers of abortion services, harassed patients, knowing that there is going to be less enforcement of those things is a real concern in this environment where we see just devastating news with what happened with Melissa and Mark and John.
NINA MOINI: Yes. Yvette and John Hoffman, again, recovering-- and we're so glad for that. It's striking to hear you say this because so many people in the past few days have said, will people want to run for political office? What will happen now if people feel this type of just elevated fear? Perhaps that also applies to people who want to go into working with Planned Parenthood or working with topics around abortion. What do you say to your staff and to others who might be exploring a career path about why you do this work, why this work continues, and why it is important to you and others?
RUTH RICHARDSON: Well, I would start with saying that our staff, our patients-- they all deserve to be able to provide access to care and to receive care free from the threat of violence. No one should be put into a position of where they are unsafe while they are going to work or they're going to their health care providers.
As I mentioned before, the unfortunate reality that we find ourselves in, we know what it's like to be targets of political violence. And every day, our staff, who are strong-- they are resilient. They show up every day for our patients and for the participants in our programs because everyone deserves access to the health care that they need in order for them to thrive.
NINA MOINI: Ruth Richardson, thank you very much for your time this afternoon and coming by and both sharing about your friend, and also about your work. We really appreciate your time.
RUTH RICHARDSON: Thank you, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That was Planned Parenthood of North Central States CEO Ruth Richardson.
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