Just Jump In

Yesterday we learned of the passing of Cecile Richards - a long time advocate for women’s reproductive rights. Richards, who died from a glioblastoma, was a life-long organizer, becoming involved in politics, organizing and protest in her early teen years. Her mother was a Democratic Governor of Texas and her father was a civil rights attorney. Although Richards cut her teeth on labor organizing, she is best known for her role as president of Planned Parenthood, where she led the organization through immense growth for twelve years. During her tenure the organization grew to become the country’s largest provider of women’s reproductive health care. In her role she became known as one of the best advocates for women’s reproductive rights and access to abortion.

In 2022 Richards reflected back on her time at Planned Parenthood sharing, “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.”

Since the fall of Roe in 2022, we’ve continued to see the rights of women traded for political gain. Today women have less rights than they did three years ago. But just like Richards never gave up, neither will we. We will continue to share stories of abortion care and the health risks when we deny women the right to healthcare. We will continue to fight for our rights and to push back against extremist politicians who want to take those rights away. We will continue to encourage women to “just jump in” and get involved, just like Cecile Richards told us back in 2021.