Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, died on January 20, 2025, at age 67. Her family said she died at home in New York after a battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
What happened to Cecile Richards?
The Associated Press reported that Richards’s family said she died at home, surrounded by family and her dog, Ollie. She had disclosed her glioblastoma diagnosis in 2023. The Associated Press obituary and The Texas Tribune’s report described her death and diagnosis.
What was Cecile Richards known for?
Leading Planned Parenthood
Richards led Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018. The Associated Press described her 12-year tenure as a period in which the organization gained membership, donor support and political influence. She was its president and CEO during a period of intense national debate over abortion and reproductive health care.
Planned Parenthood provides services including birth control, cancer screenings and STI testing, while its abortion services have made it a frequent target of social conservatives, according to the AP. Richards became a prominent public advocate for the organization, including during congressional testimony in 2015. Planned Parenthood’s remembrance also recalls her leadership and advocacy.
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Continuing advocacy after 2018
After leaving Planned Parenthood in 2018, Richards remained active in politics and reproductive-rights advocacy. Her later work included amplifying accounts of how abortion restrictions affect people. At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, she said, “One day, our children and grandchildren may ask us, ‘When it was all on the line, what did you do?’ The only acceptable answer is, ‘Everything we could.’” The quote was reported by the Associated Press.
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Richards was the daughter of Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas. She was survived by her husband, two daughters, a son and a grandson, according to the AP. President Joe Biden’s archived statement on January 20, 2025, called her a “leader of utmost character.” The American Presidency Project preserves Biden’s statement.
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Richards also recounted her approach to activism and leadership in her memoir, Make Trouble: Stand Up, Speak Out, and Find the Courage to Lead, published by Gallery Books. The publisher’s page lists the trade paperback edition, published March 26, 2019.
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