Cecile Richards has passed away
You may not know her name, but you certainly know her work: Ms. Richards headed Planned Parenthood from 2006 - 2018. She was 67 years old, and she died from glioblastoma1.
To understand her dedication to reproductive rights, it’s pays to read her essay The One Regret From My Time Leading Planned Parenthood, penned while SCOTUS was considering overturning Roe. A sample:
If I have one regret from my time leading Planned Parenthood, it is that we believed that providing vital health care, with public opinion on our side, would be enough to overcome the political onslaught. I underestimated the callousness of the Republican Party and its willingness to trade off the rights of women for political expediency.
I’m not going to run through the details of Ms. Richards’ life, there are many obits published in the last 24 hours detailing that she was the daughter of the last Democratic governor of Texas2, and her lifelong body of work.
Instead, I want to focus on her dedication. This is from the statement her family put out, recalling what Ms. Richards said often:
“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.’”
Especially in this time of darkness, we MUST follow her lead and do everything we can. I am encouraged that between noon and 1 p.m. yesterday, 20 January, four lawsuits (so far) were filed against DOGE. More will follow on other issues.
MAGA world, through the pen of Von Shitzenpants released a lot of damaging Executive Orders yesterday. And yes, we’ll talk about them in due time. But instead, let’s think about Cecile Richards and her absolute commitment to fighting with every cell of her being for what was right. You don’t even need to know all the details to know that she stands with giants who fought their whole lives FOR US. For WE, The People.
And let us never forget that Rethuglicans are evil, cruel, and terrible people. I have actually reached the breaking point on this issue. I was taken to task when I said that the minions who voted for the Orange Menace were stupid. “NO NO NO, you are wrong, they just want lower grocery prices. You are elitist and nasty to even insinuate anything about their intelligence.” So, okay, if they’re not stupid, the only other option is evil, cruel and terrible people.
I mourn for Cecile Richards. I regret never having had the opportunity to meet her, to hug her, to thank her for her work. She was inspirational. And in her memory, knowing what we face, I stand with these folks:
Because that’s what it’s going to take. To stand up every day, to be brave every day, to stand AS ONE against all those evil, cruel and terrible people. For today, it’s in memory of Cecile Richards.
Same type of brain tumor that killed Ted Kennedy and John McCain, amoung far too many others.
Ann Richards’ giving the keynote at the 1988 DNC - worth a listen, and hey, the Rethuglicans haven’t changed that much.
I met her years ago when she was the head of PP. She was a lovely woman. RIP. On the upside, she got out of here before the malignant baffoon was sworn in.
Cruel. They are ordinary American citizens who are a product of their environment including our education system.