*In 2015, Cecile Richards, then the president of Planned Parenthood, appeared before the House Oversight and Government Reform committee and testified for close to five hours. (The showdown came after an anti-choice group recorded abortion providers in secret as the professionals discussed the sale of fetal tissue. Republicans used the videos to defend their wish to strip Planned Parenthood of the close to $450 million it receives in federal funds, none of which is used to paid for abortion services.)

In front of the congressmen, Richards explained how Planned Parenthood puts federal dollars to work, defended the organization’s research practices, and endured the endless GOP-led offensive with her usual grace and patience.*

This week, as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford prepares to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to level her accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Richards draws on her experience on the Hill to assure Dr. Blasey Ford of at least this one truth: You are not alone.

Dear Dr. Blasey Ford,

I can’t imagine what you’ve been through over the past two weeks. The behavior of some United States Senators who sit on the judiciary committee has underscored how brave survivors must be to weather the hostility and public shaming they too often face. Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) has likened your decision to come forward to a drive-by shooting and 84-year-old Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has said you must be “mixed up.”

Nevertheless, it seems, you persist. I hope you have also felt the flood of sympathy and solidarity from women and men across the country—including many of us for whom your experiences sound all too familiar. If and when you walk into that Senate hearing, you will not be alone; we’ll be with you.

In anticipation of your possible testimony, I have been reliving my own five hours before a hostile Republican-led committee that wanted to end access to Planned Parenthood.

https://twitter.com/CecileRichards/status/1042398171450826753

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that the name of the game that day wasn’t fact-finding. There was no search for the truth. Instead, it was an opportunity for hostile men in Congress to grill me on everything from my salary to my competency to my memory—and overall, to humiliate and shame me. And all of this on national television.

But as unpleasant as those hours were, I had on my side two things the hostile congressmen did not.

First, the one in five women in America who have been to Planned Parenthood, who depend upon the organization for life-saving health care, gave me courage that day. I knew they were standing with me, just as millions of women and men across the country are standing with you—including the many women in America who have themselves been sexually assaulted. When you speak, you speak for all of us.

Second, and most importantly, what you have on your side is the same thing I was armed with: the truth. No amount of bullying and finger-pointing can take that away. Even if the Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate doesn’t want to hear that truth, you will tell it, and the American people will be listening and cheering you on.

And know this: After my hearing, not only did I feel better for speaking our truth to power—I couldn’t walk down the street without someone stopping me and thanking me. The same will be true for you. And though your detractors may be loud, in the end, their anger will be overwhelmed by the love and support from women everywhere.

We believe you. We are with you.

In Solidarity,

Cecile Richards

Author and former president, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

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