Shonda Rhimes has joined the national board of Planned Parenthood, according to an interview with Elle magazine, in which the television producer and writer stated that "that women's health is under fire right now."
Rhimes, who was already serving on Planned Parenthood's board in Los Angeles, will expand her responsibilities to help support the organization's mission.
"When someone you really admire ... calls on you to serve, you say yes," she told Elle. "The fact is that women's health is under fire right now and so to me, it feels like it's important to help fight back."
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, told the magazine that Rhimes will use her power of storytelling to "lift up the stories of people who don't always get heard."
"The best thing we can do is just channel the enormous creative energy and storytelling ability that Shonda Rhimes already has to do our work even better," Richards told Elle.
In 2015, Richards praised the way Rhimes depicted Scandal's main character, Olivia Pope, getting an abortion during an episode.
"She wrote a story that was not sensational; it was real," Richards said. "And people related to it. There's almost no one in America who can't relate to the issue of an unplanned pregnancy or a troubled pregnancy; it's touched them somehow in their lives."
Thank you @shondarhimes for bringing this incredibly important issue to the bajillion people watching. #Scandal
Rhimes and Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to a BuzzFeed News request for comment.