Cecile Richards, former Planned Parenthood president and feminist activist, has died

Forbes

Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood and feminist activist, died Monday of an aggressive brain cancer, her family confirmed in a statement.
Richards, the daughter of the former Democratic Texas governor, was one of the nation’s most prominent advocates for abortion rights.
Under Richards, Planned Parenthood — now inextricable from the Democratic Party, which largely supports abortion rights — became more politically active.
Richards stayed involved in progressive politics after leaving Planned Parenthood, co-founding the feminist organization Supermajority in 2019.
More recently, she told The 19th she believed it would be years before the country might restore abortion rights.

NEGATIVE

According to a statement released by her family, Cecile Richards, a feminist activist and former president of Planned Parenthood, passed away on Monday from aggressive brain cancer. 67 was her age. Richards, the daughter of the former Democratic governor of Texas, was a leading proponent of abortion rights in the country.

In the company of her family and her devoted dog, Ollie, our beloved Cecile passed away at home this morning. No words can adequately express the joy she brought into our lives, even though our hearts are broken today,” the family wrote.

Despite being diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2023, Richards continued to be a mainstay in Democratic politics. She gave a speech on reproductive rights at the Democratic National Convention in August and assisted in casting Texas’ ceremonial votes to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris.

She declared in her speech on August 21 that “we are unstoppable when women are free to make their own decisions about their lives and to follow our dreams.”. However, after Roe v. A generation of youth lost that freedom when Wade was overturned. “.”.

According to Richards, who told an election worker she had “waited for this chance all my life,” she cast her early ballot for Harris in New York City in late October, as reported by The 19th. “.”.

“Voting for Kamala and knowing that young women and men are getting to cast their first votes ever for Kamala felt so powerful,” she remarked.

On Monday, Harris issued a statement honoring Richards. Harris made these comments as his final formal statement as vice president.

According to Harris, “Cecile led with heart, fearlessness, and courage on the frontlines of the fight for women’s rights and the dignity of every woman to make decisions about their own body.”. Millions of people throughout the country now benefit from her tireless efforts on behalf of all women. “.”.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Richards most recently helped start Abortion in America, a website that shares the experiences of those who sought the procedure. Wade and Charley, a chatbot that offered details on where and how pregnant women could end their lives. Additionally, she co-chaired American Bridge, an opposition research group and liberal super PAC.

Richards got involved in politics as a teenager, working on a campaign to elect Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued against Texas’ abortion ban in Roe v. Wade, at the age of 16. To the state legislature, Wade. She participated in student activist campaigns while she was an undergraduate at Brown University to pressure the school to remove its endowment from businesses operating in South Africa during the apartheid era.

In her twenties, she organized labor, leading campaigns for garment and nursing home workers. In 1990, she returned to Texas to support her mother’s bid for governor. At some point after her mother’s term, Richards relocated to Washington, D.C. C.

The work that thrust Richards into the national spotlight was her tenure at Planned Parenthood, where she oversaw the organization for the second-longest period of time in its history, from 2006 to 2018.

During Richards’ term, anti-abortion sentiment reached a fever pitch, coinciding with Republican-led state legislatures’ attempts to enact legislation that could limit access to abortion and reduce financing for reproductive health providers, including in Texas, where she was born. “A turning point in the fight for access to abortion,” she would say years later. “.”.

Richards urged proponents of abortion rights to shout loudly enough to stop state legislative proceedings in 2013, when Texas lawmakers were trying to pass an omnibus bill full of restrictions on abortion. Legislators were unable to pass the bill before their midnight deadline due to the noise, which was captured on a widely shared livestream from The Texas Tribune. The bill was eventually overturned by the U.S. government after passing in a later legislative session. S. 2016 Supreme Court. ().

Dave Cortez, an Occupy Austin member at the time, told The Texas Tribune, “Her support really helped put it all together.”.

Richards increased Planned Parenthood’s political involvement. The organization is now inextricably linked to the Democratic Party, which is primarily in favor of abortion rights. For the second time, it entered presidential politics in 2008 when it endorsed Barack Obama. In 2016, it issued its first-ever primary endorsement, endorsing longtime reproductive rights advocate Hillary Clinton. Richards maintained that the actions were motivated by supporting politicians who protected reproductive rights rather than by party affiliation.

After leaving Planned Parenthood, Richards continued to be active in progressive politics, helping to found the feminist group Supermajority in 2019. Training people to advocate for women’s equality is the organization’s main goal. At the end of 2020, Richards departed Supermajority.

Abortion rights came under scrutiny, particularly after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. After Wade, Richards became a strong advocate for abortion rights. She claimed that Republicans had compromised “women’s rights for political expediency” in an opinion piece published in The New York Times in the months prior to Roe’s overturning. “.”.

“We thought that providing essential health care, with public opinion on our side, would be enough to overcome the political onslaught,” she wrote in the 2022 article, expressing her regret for her time as the head of Planned Parenthood.

In a more recent interview, she told The 19th that she thought it would be years before the nation would allow abortion again.

“To be honest, I think it will take a while for us to regain the rights we once enjoyed,” she remarked. For individuals who encounter obstacles due to factors such as race, location, income, and more, these disparities are pervasive, intersecting, and considerably more challenging to eliminate. We must be prepared for a battle that will last for many years. “”.

This report was aided by Grace Panetta.

scroll to top