In May, after twelve years at the helm of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards will step down. The pro-life community bids good riddance to the queen of the pro-aborts.

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the nation with a total of 321,384 abortions per year, according to their latest annual report. Regardless of who ascends to the throne, the “women’s healthcare” organization will remain a death mill as it destroys thousands of unborn lives each day.

Richards is known for her cold demeanor and flippant attitude toward unborn life. So in other words, she’s been a perfect ambassador for the abortion community. In a 2015 interview with Katie Couric, Richards calmly explained the reason for aborting her fourth child after carrying three to term and allowing them to see the light of day.

“It was a decision my husband and I made. It was a personal decision. And we have three children that we adore and that are the center of my life. And we decided that was as big as our family needed to be. That was really the story. It wasn’t anything more dramatic than that.

To her, ending a human life is like taking out the trash. No big deal. Routine. Stopping a heart lacks drama. It’s almost boring.

So it’s no surprise that the same woman entirely rejects the science of conception. Accepting the established truth surrounding life’s beginnings would – gasp! – add a moral component to what she considers a casual act.

In a recent interview with Playboy, Richards stated her opinion (because that’s all it is) on when life truly begins. And unsurprisingly, her answer is entirely dismissive of reality.

During the interview, when asked about when life begins, Richards cited doctors as saying “there is no specific moment when life begins.” Or, she said, “It depends on the pregnancy.”

What? Depends on the pregnancy? Well, it’s a good thing some pregnancies result in an actual human life, then. Because it’s touch-and-go there for a while.

…the interviewer, journalist David Hochman…asked her questions that many in the media refuse to touch – questions about life.

“Is there any point during pregnancy when an abortion would be terminating a life?” he asked.

“That’s a question medical folks have dealt with, and I’m not a doctor,” she said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with ob-gyns, and they will tell you there is no specific moment when life begins.”

No one is this dumb. With her answer, Cecile is deflecting the truth as much as possible. She’d rather not be saddled with the weight of acknowledging that she presides over hundreds of thousands of deaths per year in Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide. With a shrug of her shoulders and “I don’t know”, she can distance herself further from the ongoing carnage.

What is the truth? Let’s look at some embryology.

Human development is a continuous process that begins when an oocyte (ovum) from a female is fertilized by a sperm (or spermatozoon) from a male. (p. 2); … but the embryo begins to develop as soon as the oocyte is fertilized. (p. 2); … Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm … unites with a female gamete or oocyte … to form a single cell. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual. (p. 18)

Keith Moore and T.V.N. Persaud, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology (6th ed.)

And…

Although life is a continuous process, fertilization … is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is formed when the chromosomes of the male and female pronuclei blend in the oocyte.

Ronan O’Rahilly and Fabiola Muller, Human Embryology & Teratology, 3rd ed.

A “genetically distinct human organism” sounds like life to me.

“Zygote. This cell results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm during fertilization. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo).”

Moore, Keith L. and Persaud, T.V.N. The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. 7th edition.

This is all rather inconvenient for Cecile Richards and her minions. Life begins early on, and at the same time, for everyone. It is not dependent upon a woman’s feelings; it rests on fact.

Unique personhood is present at the moment of fertilization (aka conception). No, this new human life doesn’t look like you or me and is nowhere near the stage of viability, but that does not matter. When it comes to unborn life, there must be a dividing line which separates the appropriate from the murderous.

Be pro-choice before conception and pro-life after.

I am well aware that Cecile Richards probably won’t change her views in the future. I also have no doubt that Richards’ successor will carry on the bloody tradition of supporting and promoting abortion.

What’s another thing that will remain? The rock solid science of conception. And it will stick around long after this president of Planned Parenthood leaves her desk.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent those of any other individual or entity. Follow Kimberly Ross on Twitter: @southernkeeks.