Texas-born activist who spent lifetime advocating for abortion rights died after a battle with brain cancer. Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood who helped turn the reproductive healthcare giant into a formidable political organization and make support for abortion rights a virtual requirement for Democratic candidates, died on Monday after a battle with brain cancer. She was 67.
“This morning our believed Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie,” Richards’ family wrote in a statement. “Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives.”.
Over the course of her career, Richards became one of the biggest faces of US abortion rights, if not one of the most important American activists of the 21st century. Under her watch, Planned Parenthood became a mainstay in Democratic politics, battled numerous congressional attempts to defund the organization, and tried to dam a torrent of state-level efforts to restrict abortion access.
Her mother, the former Texas governor Ann Richards, was a political legend, but Richards herself became a household name in 2015, after anti-abortion activists released secret recordings of Planned Parenthood workers purportedly discussing the sale of fetal tissue. The recordings – which Planned Parenthood said were doctored – spurred multiple congressional and state investigations that could not substantiate their contents, and led US House Republicans to grill Richards in an hours-long, highly publicized hearing.
