Who Was Cecile Richards? 5 Things on the Late Planned Parenthood President

Cecile Richards, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, one of Time‘s 100 most influential people in 2012, and former Planned Parenthood president, died at the age of 67 on January 20, 2025, according to CBS News. In a heartfelt social media statement the same day, her husband Kirk Adams and their three children Lily, Hannah, and Daniel mourned her passing. “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,” the statement, accompanied by a carousel of photos from her life, read.

“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. 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?’ The only acceptable answer is: ‘Everything we could.’”

Below, learn five things about the activist and her life of public service.

Cecile Richards Was President of Planned Parenthood For 12 Years

Born in Waco, Texas, Cecile was always cut out for prominence — her mother was former Texas governor Ann Richards. After graduating from Brown University, she went on to become one of the most high-profile feminist activists in the country. She stepped into the role of president of Planned Parenthood in 2006 — a role she’d keep for a dozen years, finally ceding the position to Leana Wen in 2018. She was also deputy chief of staff to Nancy Pelosi.

Cecile Richards Battled Cancer

According to CBS News, the lifelong activist was diagnosed with glioblastoma (brain cancer) in 2023. She addressed the matter directly via social media, and through a January 2024 interview with The Cut. At the time, she explained why she felt the need to continue fighting for women’s rights amid her own fight for her life.

“These past months have been filled with treatment – but also with trips to Maine, Texas, and New Orleans, time with my husband, three amazing kids, new grandson, and dutiful dog, Ollie, excursions to see Flaco the owl in Central Park, endless mystery novels and old movies, and work I am so fortunate to still be doing,” she wrote in part via Instagram. “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.”

She continued, “I believe, as I always have, that activism, organizing, and troublemaking are a great way to spend your one wild and precious life. After all, as my mother used to say: ‘Why should your life be just about you?’” She concluded, “I’ve felt lucky all my life, and I feel lucky now: to be here, doing this work, alongside all of you.”

She Was a Wife and Mother

Cecile was the wife of Kirk Adams and mother to Lily Adams, an assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department, Daniel Adams, and Hannah Adams. She’s also a grandmother to Lily’s first child, poignantly born as Cecile was being diagnosed with the condition that would ultimately claim her life, per The Cut.

Cecile Richards Was a Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

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In November of 2024, just two months before her death, Cecile was bestowed a rare distinction. She was honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden during a private ceremony. “Carrying her parents’ torch for justice, she’s led some of our Nation’s most important civil rights causes – to lift up the dignity of workers, defend and advance women’s reproductive rights and equality, and mobilize Americans to exercise their power to vote,” a commendation delivered at the ceremony stated, per ABC News. “A leader of utmost character, she has carved an inspiring legacy that endures in her incredible family, the countless lives she has made better, and a Nation seeking the light of equality, justice, and freedom.”

She Was an Author

According to her Wikipedia page, Cecile was also an author. Her contribution “Combating the Religious Right” appeared in 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women’s Anthology for a New Millennium. Her memoir, entitled Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead, was published by Gallery Books in 2018, per Bustle.