Cecile Richards, Former President of Planned Parenthood, Has Died: ‘Leader of Utmost Character’

Cecile Richards, who served as president of the women’s health organization Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018, died on Monday, Jan. 20, her family confirmed to PEOPLE. She was 67.

Her death follows a 2023 diagnosis of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

“This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie. Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives,” Richards’ family — husband Kirk Adams and their children, Lily, Hannah and Daniel — said in a statement. 

They continued, “We are grateful to the doctors and health care workers who provided her excellent care and the friends, family, and well-wishers who have been by her side during this challenging time.”

“Cecile Richards was an indomitable force. In her 12 devoted years of service to our organization, Cecile brought Planned Parenthood Federation of America to new heights in our health care, education, and advocacy work. She led us through fights that transformed the reproductive health and rights landscape and made Planned Parenthood Action Fund the advocacy and political force that it remains to this day,” current Planned Parenthood president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement shared on Monday.

Before serving as the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Richards was a longtime political activist who first helped her mother, former Texas governor Ann Richards, with her gubernatorial campaign before going on to serve as the deputy chief of staff for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“It was my privilege to work directly with Cecile for many years and to I have a front-row seat to her sharp intellect, strategic thinking and relentless effectiveness. As my deputy chief of staff when I was Democratic Whip and Leader, she was a critical part of ensuring that Team Pelosi stayed connected to the needs and priorities of grassroots,” Pelosi said in a statement. 

She added, “As she ascended to other leadership roles, we never stopped working together to defend the rights of women and working families.”

Richards was also one of the founders of America Votes, a nonprofit organization aimed at increasing voter turnout.

After leaving Planned Parenthood, she co-founded the group Supermajority, which aimed at making women the most powerful voting bloc in the county. She was also the board of the Ford Foundation.

Richards was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2023, the Texas Tribune reported. Per the Mayo Clinic, there is no cure for glioblastoma, although treatments may help improve symptoms or slow the growth of the cancer, which begins in the brain or spinal cord and spreads quickly.

Even after her cancer diagnosis, Richards continued to advocate for reproductive rights, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, effectively making the procedure illegal in multiple states. In a Jan. 2024 instagram post, she wrote “In my experience, having cancer doesn’t suddenly fill you with profound insights on life. What it does is make it really clear what’s important. And there is no more important work right now than the fight for abortion rights.”

President Joe Biden — who awarded Richards with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2024 — issued a statement on her passing on Monday. “Jill and I are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Cecile Richards. Cecile fearlessly led us forward to be the America we say we are. Carrying her mom’s torch for justice, she championed some of our Nation’s most important civil rights causes,” he said.

He added, “She fought for the dignity of workers, defended and advanced women’s reproductive rights and equality, and mobilized our fellow Americans to exercise their power to vote. She was a leader of utmost character and I know that her legacy will continue to inspire generations to come.” 

Biden’s statement was issued on Inauguration Day, just hours before Donald Trump was sworn in as 47th President of the United States.

The statement from Richards’ family continued with recommendations on ways to honor her: “If you’d like to celebrate Cecile today, 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?’ ”

They added, “The only acceptable answer is: ‘Everything we could.’ ”

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