Richards, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor, in 2023, was 67.
Below, revisit a profile of Richards by Jonathan Van Meter fromVogues July 2017 issue.
As Richards likes to point out, The average woman in America spends five years having children .
Her ArmyPlanned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards (in red), with patients, staff, and volunteers at the organization’s new health-and-education facility in Long Island City, Queens.
Thatsthe work that were about.
Planned Parenthood had big dreams, as Richards puts it, at the prospect of the first woman president.
(More than half of Planned Parenthood patients are recipients of the program.)
Nothing but GoodCecile Richards, Planned Parenthood’s president.Sittings Editor: Phyllis Posnick. Hair: Thom Priano for R+Co.; Makeup: Francelle Daly. Photographed at Planned Parenthood Queens Facility. Set Design: Mary Howard.
One it’s possible for you to feelcomfortablewith.
They dont care about your status, she says, or if you dont speak the language.
You have to dosomethingwith your anger, but Ive done everything I know how to do, she says.
Mother-in-Chief“The average woman in America spends five years having children and an average of 30 years trying not to get pregnant,” says Richards, photographed by Leibovitz forVoguein 2006. “That’sthe work that we’re about.”
Ive looked him in the eye; hes lying to me.Nowwhat do I do?
The backlash was swift.
Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called their support not only disappointing but politically stupid.
At one point, a woman of a certain age with a blonde coif appears.
She looks like shes gotten lost on her way to Bergdorf Goodman.
Oh, I know the back of the house, says Wynn.
And I know thisbuilding.
I chaired the opening of it a hundred years ago, with Frank Sinatra and Diana Ross.
Sammy was sick and couldnt make it.
Richards introduces her to the group of young women hovering around in pink T-shirts.
She leans in to take a closer look.
You have my favorite Planned Parenthood button on, says Richards.
Its not even official.
What does it say?
Dont fuck with us, dont fuck without us, says Richards.
We dont make them.
I dont know where they come from.
Wynn levels her with a look.
Well, you have to be prepared to either defendornotthat button.
Both were founded a century ago, and they have been working closely together ever since.
Cecile and I understand each other, says Romero.
We have the same value system.
She is always empathetic, but always the first one to push you back out there.
Shes a natural at it.
She inherited her sense of humorand her firefrom her mother.
Weve grown our advocacy side, but thats because were not just an important reproductive healthcare providerwere a movement.
We advocate for the patients we see and for millions of other women.
And women are paying attention.
Trump is an enormous disappointment, she adds.
Its been a very tough four months for women.
It is the most outrageous display of pushing women to the side.
She lets out a mordant chuckle.
And theyre not even .
its like they dont know what they dont know and they dont even care what they dont know.
Richards has felt the brunt of congressional hostility many times since becoming Planned Parenthoods president in early 2006.
The distortions and the smearing and the dirty tricks.
Her leadership now, in the time of Trump, is really reaching epic proportions.
What she does exceedingly well is she always puts the patients first, says New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Its about them; its about their story; its about their needs.
Thats what makes her a powerful leader.
Those stories are why you bother.
Those stories are what informs us and makes us fight.
Romero believes that Richards is one of the reasons that theWomens March on Washington in Januarywas so enormous.
Shes really galvanized a whole new generation of activists, he says.
Richards recalls flying to Washington that day to give a speech.
Someone says, Show us your sign!
And hes this big guy and he turns around and it reads, I am really upset.
The whole plane erupts and pulls out their pink hats, and its like a big party.
This election has brought out people who are not usually sign carriers.
But she remembers someone else, a young Southern flight attendant whom she struck up a conversation with.
She said, Oh, yall are going to that march?
And then she said, Do you think that even makes adifference?
But women sometimes, they need to see.
I wonder what she thinks now.
Richards is wearing a navy sheath with ruching at the neck, and black mules.
Im not a fashion person, she says.
I basically like to wear navy blue, and I dont need a lot of extras.
My mother was obsessed with clothes, soas people doI went in the other direction.
I ask Richards about downtimeof which I suspect she has barely any.
I like to scuba dive.
And Im a cook.
When I moved here, we immediately redid our kitchen.
Im a big baker, and Im learning how to make my own pasta.
Richards turns 60 this month, but you would never know it.
I was just the genetic transfer between Ann Richards and Lily.
Shes so smart, sopoliticallysmart, and committed.
I listen to her and I hear my mother.
Mom was always, like, Cant wear patterns on TV!
Jackie Kennedy never wore white shoes!
Lilys growing into that.
Here her eyes widen.
In New Orleans she met the man who would become her husbandKirk Adams, also a labor organizer.
When I ask Richards what Kirk is like, she calls him a saint.
Did you ever seeThe Way We Were?
I flash on that all the time.
No, hes a really patient guy who deserves a lot of credit.
She lets out a big laugh.
He grew up in a typical working-class Irish Catholic family in Massachusetts.
Everybody worked all the time.
Thats all they did: work.
Its very hard to find people who start out that way and then are still .
She has been deeply engaged in electoral politics ever since.
Ive never had more women come up to me .
And they say, Im kind of thinking about running for office.
What do you think?
That just doesnt happen.
So any woman who has theslightestinkling, we just have to bring em in and have em do it.
Has she ever been tempted to run?
Not at all, she says.
Ive seen too much, even with my mothers races.
When she talks about the future of Planned Parenthood, you get a sense of what she means.
That to me is where we have to be.
And it was my mother who said, Are you kidding me?
I definitely would not be doing what I do today if it had not been for her.
Is that by design?
Not in any intentional way, she says.
Women are constantly approaching me on the streets, asking, What should I do?
I say, Dont wait for instructions.
She stops about 20 feet away.
Are you Cecile Richards?
Sorry to interrupt, she says.
The woman stares at her for a second, and puts her hand to her heart.
Oh, listen, says Richards.
You bring tears to my eyes.
Its going to be OK, says Richards.
says the woman, smiling.
Were working on it!
