WACO, Texas — Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood and a longtime abortion activist, has died from an aggressive form of brain cancer Monday morning, her family announced.
According to a statement from the family on X, Richards died at home surrounded by her family and her dog, Ollie.
“Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives,” the statement reads. “We invite you to put on some New Orleans jazz, gather with friends and family over a good meal, and remember something she said a lot over the last year: ‘It’s not hard to imagine future generations one day asking, ‘When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do? The only acceptable answer is: Everything we could.”
— Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) January 20, 2025
Richards, the eldest daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, led Planned Parenthood for 12 years from 2006 to 2018. She also founded the Texas Freedom Network, an organization promoting religious freedom to counter the Christian Right, and the organization known as Supermajority, a group which hopes to “push politicians to adopt an agenda akin to what Richards called ‘a women’s new deal.'”
Most recently, Richards spoke at the Democratic National Convention on the struggles women have faced since the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court.
“One day, our children and grandchildren may ask us, ‘When it was all on the line, what did you do?’ And the only acceptable answer is, everything we could,” Richards said at the time.