CECILE RICHARDS

RICHARDS--Cecile. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) community mourns the loss of Cecile Richards, a one-in-a-generation leader who altered the trajectory of women's rights and repro-ductive freedom in this country. Cecile served as the president of Planned Parenthood, one of the ACLU's sister organizations, for more than a decade. She pioneered the organization's efforts to expand birth control access and reproductive care under the Affordable Care Act, to expand its reproductive health services, and to fight abortion restrictions and bans long before Roe v. Wade was overturned. After 12 years at Planned Parenthood, Cecile continued advancing women's rights and gender justice, co-founding Supermajority, a women's political action group that seeks to train and mobilize women to be organizers, activists, and leaders. Even after being diagnosed with a glioblastoma, a terminal brain cancer, Cecile didn't stop. Last fall, she co-founded Abortion in America, an organization dedicated to uplifting the voices of those denied health care because of state abortion bans. Cecile started her career in the labor movement, working as an organizer for service workers including garment workers, nursing home workers, and janitors. She later served as deputy chief of staff for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2011 and 2012. She was also awarded the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty, the ACLU's highest honor acknowledging individuals who have made lifetime contributions to the advancement of civil liberties. Just last year, President Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the nation's top civilian awards. To her very core, Cecile was an organizer: of movements, friends, and family. She was curious and listened, concerned most about what people need as well as what brought them joy. To honor Cecile is to carry on her legacy. When the ACLU recently gave Cecile the ACLU's Roger Baldwin award, our highest honor, she ended her acceptance speech with the words, "Here's to the work ahead." Cecile is survived by her husband and three children. The ACLU community extends our deepest condolences to the Richards family.