Cecile Richards, a champion of women’s reproductive rights

 

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL) joins in mourning the untimely death of Cecile Richards, long-time Planned Parenthood president.

Consumers and patients owe Cecile Richards a debt of gratitude for the heroic efforts to protect access to healthcare and reproductive freedom for women across America and especially for championing the reproductive rights of those of modest means. Richards spent 12 years at the helm of Planned Parenthood and expanded membership from 3 to 11 million.

Since NCL’s founding in 1899, the healthcare of women and their babies has been of paramount importance to the NCL. There is no better example than Cecile Richards of someone who embodies these values. While her death saddens us, we know that she left an incredible legacy and strengthened the movement probably more than any other American. We thank her for her many years of dedication and hard work and for standing up for the principle that all women are entitled to make decisions about their own bodies without government interference.

Our thoughts are with Cecile and her family at this sorrowful time.

-Sally Greenberg, NCL CEO