According to BuzzFeed News, Cecile Richards is reportedly going to step down from her position as the president of Planned Parenthood sometime this year. The 60-year-old leader has served as the women’s health and reproductive rights organization’s president since 2006, when she took over and helped relaunch it as a political force. Richards has not officially said she will be vacating her position, though sources have told BuzzFeed News that such an announcement is coming soon.
An anonymous Planned Parenthood official said in a statement, “Cecile plans to discuss 2018 and the next steps for Planned Parenthood’s future at the upcoming board meeting.” Said board meeting is scheduled for next week, though whether or not her talking points will include her impending departure remains to be seen. If Richards truly does intend to step down, however, it will “mark a significant change for the country’s most prominent abortion rights group”:
During her time as president, Richards greatly expanded the organization’s fundraising and organizing capabilities — and helped raise its profile through celebrity-oriented campaigns and increased political participation. Over the past decade in particular, Democrats have further embraced abortion rights as a central part of the party’s platform — a shift that can be credited in large part to Planned Parenthood’s increased prominence under Richards.
Richards is currently putting the final touches on a new memoir, Make Trouble, which is due to be released in April. As for Planned Parenthood, the organization has faced considerable pushback since President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence took office in 2017.
(Via BuzzFeed News)