Cecile Richards, Who Led Planned Parenthood Through 12 Turbulent Years, Dies at 67

Cecile Richards, a prominent advocate for abortion access and women's rights who spent 12 turbulent years at the helm of Planned Parenthood, has died at the age of 67. Her family said she died Monday at home, "surrounded by family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie."

"Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives," the family said in a statement. Richards was the daughter of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards. She was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2023, five years after stepping down from Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood offers birth control, cancer screenings and testing for sexually transmitted diseases at clinics around the country. But as the nation's leading abortion provider, it has long been a target of social conservatives. During Richards' tenure, the organization grew in membership, donor support and political influence, and she took a visible role in answering its critics.

In 2015, she spent hours fielding hostile questions from Republican members of the U.S. House, who later set up an investigative panel to examine Planned Parenthood's abortion and fetal-tissue policies. In 2021, she cautioned that the Supreme Court's inaction on a restrictive Texas abortion law might signal the end of judicial checks and balances on the issue. She kept speaking out after the court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Richards was born July 15, 1957, in Waco, Texas, and earned a bachelor's degree in history from Brown University. At her 1980 graduation, she unfurled a banner from a second-floor window to protest the school's investments in South Africa. In a 2017 address to graduates, she recalled that "Question Authority" was a popular button of the era and said it "absolutely set me on my path."

After college, she organized low-wage workers in several states, then returned to Texas to help with her mother's 1990 campaign for governor. She was a founder of America Votes in 2004 and, before joining Planned Parenthood, served as deputy chief of staff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi praised her "sharp intellect, strategic thinking and relentless effectiveness." President Joe Biden, who awarded Richards the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November, called her a "leader of utmost character" and said she "championed some of our Nation's most important civil rights causes."

After leaving Planned Parenthood, Richards co-chaired American Bridge, which backs liberal causes and conducts opposition research on Republicans. Last fall, she began a project that uses social media to highlight personal stories about the effects of abortion bans and restrictions.

Alexis McGill Johnson, the current president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called her an "indomitable force." She said the best way to honor Richards would be to "suit up — preferably in pink — link arms, and fight like hell for Planned Parenthood patients across the country."

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in August, Richards said future generations may ask what people did "when it was all on the line," and that the only acceptable answer is, "Everything we could." She is survived by her husband, two daughters, a son and one grandson.