It was a tough June day last summer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Cecile Richards, a lifelong organizer and reproductive rights activist, was in her element. At an abortion storytelling event she led in response to Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban, she listened, encouraged and thanked woman after woman who shared their experiences.
Richards, who converted Planned Parenthood During her 12-year tenure as president, she also helped arrange snacks and move chairs. When the daughter of a local activist arrived, Richards opened her arms and the girl ran into them, wrapping her arms around her legs.
Richards, who He died On Monday at the age of 67, he was a staunch advocate for reproductive justice, a bestselling author, and a public intellectual. She was one of the most powerful political figures in the United States. But one of her greatest abilities — one I witnessed over four days in New Orleans last year — was how she connected with people. She would sit and talk with a group of strangers as if they were old friends, talking often about her three children and her beloved little grandson, Teddy. She and her husband, Kirk Adams, invited everyone involved in the storytelling project to her house one night to eat cheese and drink wine.
I have only known Richards briefly, but I will never forget her easy presence, her optimism, and her belief that the world can be better if we all work together.
Back in June 2024, luster He was called to testify The beginning of the Abortion Storytelling Project (now called Abortion in America) was created by her long-time collaborator, Lauren Peterson, and local abortion activist Caitlin Joshua (Who will be named Glamorous Woman of the Year in 2024. Richards herself has been honored as Wooty In 2015).
Richards embarked on the project shortly after learning, in 2023, that she had glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that has an average survival rate of less than a year. After her diagnosis, Richards turned her attention to a battle on multiple fronts. She would travel to Louisiana for a few days to work on an abortion storytelling project, then return to New York for treatment. She was fighting for herself, fighting for us. And it never stopped.
During the four days I spent in Louisiana, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Cecil at length. Part of me wanted to pick her brain; To have the opportunity to capture some of her enthusiasm and hope through osmosis. But also to understand why and how, in the face of a devastating diagnosis, she continued to fight for the rights of others. No one would have blamed her if she had retired from public life to focus on her illness, but she got into the work with more enthusiasm. How did you do that? How did it last?
Richards’ answer was simple but profound: How could we not?
“I feel very lucky,” she said on that hot June day in Baton Rouge. “I’m lucky to be able to do anything at this point that helps build constituencies and encourage young women.”
