Cecile Richards

Cecile Richards was a pioneering advocate for reproductive health and Planned Parenthood’s president from 2006 to 2018. During the course of her leadership, Richards defended the organization from unwavering attacks by antiabortion extremists, including a sting operation attempting to frame Planned Parenthood for profiting off of fetal tissue sales. Her mother, the late Ann Richards, was a progressive Democratic governor of Texas in the 1990s. Richards passed away on January 20, 2025 of brain cancer, a true loss of a strong voice of reason and advocacy in the feminist movement for reproductive rights.

‘Grace Under Pressure’: A Look Back on the Late Cecile Richards

PUBLISHED 5/3/2025 by

Cecile Richards, who transformed Planned Parenthood as its longtime president, died early in the morning on Jan. 20 at the implausibly young age of 67. America lost one of its most audacious and charismatic defenders of women’s health and rights just when we needed her most— hours before the inauguration of Donald Trump, whose first-term appointees to the Supreme Court gutted the constitutional protection of abortion rights and whose second term imperils the rights of women in additional myriad ways.

(This article originally appears in the Spring 2025 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox.)

New York Times’ Shameful Reporting on Planned Parenthood Bolsters Right-Wing Attacks on Reproductive Healthcare Access

PUBLISHED 2/21/2025 by and

The New York Times recently published a 3,000-word investigative report claiming to have found “scores of allegations” against Planned Parenthood for misconduct, medical malpractice, mismanagement and labor violations. Released within a month of Trump’s inauguration, the article appears timed to provide ammunition for the ongoing right-wing attack on reproductive rights. 

The NYT could have invested its significant resources into investigating how Planned Parenthood plays a unique and irreplaceable role in the U.S. healthcare system as the nation’s leading provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare and largest sex educator. By choosing to publish what reads as a hit job on Planned Parenthood at this political moment, while failing to devote any resources to investigating the opaque and unregulated antiabortion industry vying to defund and replace Planned Parenthood, the NYT has done a grave disservice to readers, especially women and girls who need reproductive healthcare.

Keeping Score: Trump’s Executive Orders Undo Progress; Meta Allows Hate Against Women and LGBTQ People; Abortion Ban States Are Losing Residents

PUBLISHED 1/30/2025 by

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: Trump enacts harmful executive actions on immigration, global abortion care, DEI and foreign assistance; Trump’s new treasury secretary said expanding tax cuts for the wealthy is “the single most important economic issue of the day”; Trump pardoned anti-abortion extremists; ICE raids spread fear; 1.4 percent of trans teens participate in sports, but 40 percent are bullied at school; Whole Woman’s Health has expanded its 24/7 abortion care services; states hostile to abortion rights see challenges attracting and retaining workers; female firefighters will now receive federal compensation for treatment for reproductive cancers; remembering Cecile Richards, and more.

What Women Do With Political Power—and Why It Matters More Than Ever

PUBLISHED 1/24/2025 by

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!

This week:
—Lifelong feminist, activist and former president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, died.
—A new report is sobering for anyone who have assumed increased women’s leadership was inevitable.
—Alaska’s legislative session begins, where women hold the majority of seats in the House and bipartisanship is flourishing.
—In New Mexico, women lawmakers have changed the legislative culture, addressing sexual harassment and championing policies to reduce child poverty and protect reproductive rights.

… and more.

Rest in Power: Cecile Richards—Former President of Planned Parenthood, Daughter of First Texas Female Governor and Lifelong Feminist Activist

PUBLISHED 1/20/2025 by

Cecile Richards—former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018; founder of Supermajority, an organization dedicated to championing women’s leadership; daughter of Gov. Ann Richards, the first and only female governor of the state; and a lifelong feminist and political activist and trailblazer—died Monday, Jan. 20, after a battle with brain cancer. She was 67.

We All Deserve the Freedom to Control Our Bodies

PUBLISHED 3/1/2023 by

Reproductive and bodily freedom is under attack like never before. Attacks on reproductive freedom and anti-trans legislation go hand in hand, as they are both about controlling which bodies are respected and who gets to make choices about their own lives. Decisions about our bodies, including abortion and gender transition, are deeply personal choices that should be made solely by the person seeking healthcare—free from political interference. 

(This essay is part of The Majority Rules project—an artful essay and op-ed series from Ms. and Supermajority Education Fund.)