Together with our many partners and friends, we mourn the loss of Cecile Richards, who passed away on January 20, 2025 from glioblastoma.
For Cecile, political activism was a family pastime and as the daughter of Ann Richards, former governor of Texas, she spent her childhood working elections. Cecile was a champion who fought for working families and women her entire career and life. She organized hotel workers fighting for fair pay and benefits. She worked the halls of Congress as Nancy Pelosi’s Chief of Staff and knew how things got done, who to count on and whose desk to pound. She reignited the reproductive health movement as President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, bringing millions of young women and donors into the movement, and negotiated that the ACA provide non-discriminatory pricing and benefits for women and access to preventive care and contraception at no cost to women.
There is no fight that Cecile ever considered backing away from. She was fierce and inspired others to join her. Her generosity with her time, her resources, her wisdom and her humor were extraordinary. She made everyone think they had a special relationship with her. Her stories, woven into all her speeches and conversations illustrated her messages personally and with humor. There were always memorable “Texasisms”, many from her mother, folded in as well. She would say about the upcoming administration – “well, there won’t be any white dresses at this wedding.”
She walked her talk – when her grandson is an adult and asks her mother Lily what Cecile did to prevent the loss of women’s rights, she can say “everything she could. To her dying day”. We’ve lost a gem and a source of immense inspiration. We will miss her.