Former Planned Parenthood President Passes Away After Struggling with Brain Cancer
Cecile Richards served as the president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 until 2018, making her the longest-serving leader in the organization’s history.
Tragically, Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood and a key figure in the pro-abortion movement, has passed away at the age of 67.
Her family announced her death on Monday, sharing that she “died at home, surrounded by her family and her beloved dog, Ollie.”
“Our hearts are shattered today, yet no words can capture the joy she brought into our lives,” the family expressed in a statement to the media.
During her tenure as president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018, the organization oversaw more than 4.2 million abortions, as documented in its annual reports.
Under Richards’s guidance, Planned Parenthood experienced significant growth, enlarging its supporter base to over 13 million donors and volunteers by the end of her term. She also fortified the organization’s connections with the Democratic Party, briefly serving as an adviser to Hillary Clinton during her campaign for the presidency.
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One of the most challenging events during Richards’s presidency occurred in 2015 when a series of covertly recorded videos purportedly showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing, in disturbing detail, the preservation and sale of aborted fetal organs for research.
In reaction to the backlash, Richards expressed regret over the manner in which Planned Parenthood representatives and medical professionals spoke about the aborted fetuses. Nevertheless, she staunchly denied any misconduct, arguing that the footage had been manipulated to misrepresent the organization’s practices.
Planned Parenthood encountered significant challenges following the landmark June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which repealed Roe v. Wade and lifted decades of federal protections for abortion access, returning the regulatory power to individual states.
President Donald Trump, who resumed his presidency on Monday for a second term, had also revamped the federally funded Title X family planning program during his first term, eliminating funds for organizations like Planned Parenthood that provided referrals for abortions.
Just months prior to her passing, Richards was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-outgoing President Joe Biden in a private White House ceremony.
Richards is survived by her husband, Kirk Adams, a healthcare union leader, and their three children.
