{"id":76370,"date":"2025-01-21T15:30:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T20:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=76370"},"modified":"2025-01-21T15:30:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T20:30:42","slug":"champion-of-womens-reproductive-rights-cecile-richards-dies-age-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/champion-of-womens-reproductive-rights-cecile-richards-dies-age-67\/","title":{"rendered":"Champion of Women\u2019s Reproductive Rights, Cecile Richards, Dies Age 67"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood in May 2012. (Credit: Courtesy of Flickr<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On Monday, hours before Donald Trump was inaugurated as America\u2019s 47th president, Cecile Richards, a lifelong activist, political organizer and the head of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018, passed away from glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richards grew up in Texas, the daughter of David Richards, a lawyer, and Ann Richards<\/a>, the former Democratic governor of Texas. She spent years working as a labor organizer, and in 2004 became a founder of America Votes<\/a>, an organization dedicated to promoting progressive issues. Richards served as the deputy chief of staff to California Democrat Nancy Pelosi during the representative\u2019s tenure as minority whip in 2001. Pelosi once said of Richards, \u201cshe should be president\u201d \u2013  high praise from one of America\u2019s longest serving congresswomen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richards rose to new heights of national prominence when she became the president of Planned Parenthood in 2006. She oversaw the organization during a period when women\u2019s reproductive rights came under increasing attack from Republicans, particularly under the presidency of George W. Bush and Trump\u2019s first term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Republican efforts to block abortion, Richards managed to grow Planned Parenthood into the nation\u2019s largest provider of reproductive and sexual care. Under her leadership, the organization grew its base of support to over 11 million volunteers and donors, up from 2.5 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it wasn\u2019t without setbacks. Her home state of Texas led a particularly vicious battle against Planned Parenthood\u2019s government support \u2013 at first successfully stripping the organization of funding for contraception programs, for breast and cervical cancer screenings, as well as for H.I.V prevention. Then in 2021, in advance of the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade, Texas enacted a trigger ban on abortion, ultimately outlawing abortion<\/a> altogether, even in the case of rape or incest, in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n \n \"conservative-men-womens-rights\"\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Behold! The Smallness of Man\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

That same year, a few months before Roe V. Wade was overturned<\/a>, Richards wrote an opinion piece in The<\/em> New York Times<\/em> titled, \u201cThe One Regret From My Time Leading Planned Parenthood.<\/a>\u201d In the essay, Richards recounts the slow and corrosive manner in which Republicans chipped away women\u2019s basic human rights. She recalled, \u201cone of the most surreal moments of my life\u201d was when Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner asked to meet her before President Trump\u2019s first inauguration. The daughter and son-in-law of the president told her that if Planned Parenthood stopped providing abortions, \u201cthey promised, not only would Mr. Trump stop the organization from being defunded \u2013 he might just increase<\/em> funding for Planned Parenthood.\u201d Richards wrote that it was then she understood that, \u201cwhat they really wanted, more than anything, was for Planned Parenthood to get out of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay out of politics, she did not. In 2018, Richards stepped down from her leadership position at Planned Parenthood so that she could focus on mobilizing female voters across the country. Even after her 2023 cancer diagnosis, she kept fighting \u2013 launching a project called Abortion in America, which through videos on Instagram and TikTok aims to share the first hand stories of women who were denied abortions. She also launched a chatbot named Charley that<\/a> helps women seeking abortion find access to care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past November, Richards spoke proudly of casting her vote for Kamala Harris, telling The 19th <\/em><\/a>\u201cI had been waiting for this chance all my life.\u201d She did not get to see America elect its first female president, and her passing hours before Trump\u2019s second inauguration feels profoundly poignant. May her legacy serve to inspire the next generation of American women, who may soon be fighting once again for sexual and reproductive rights<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n \n \"MLK\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Love as a Bold and Intentional Thing\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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