Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood, has spent her career fighting for abortion rights. Now, Richards has cast her vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the first presidential election post-Roe v. Wade, where abortion has taken center stage like none other before it. 

“I voted early in New York City and was assisted by Daisy, a lifelong New Yorker, who couldn’t be more excited,” Richards said in an email to The 19th. “I told her I had been waiting for this chance all my life and she had too! It felt so powerful to vote for Kamala and to know that young women and men are getting to cast their first votes ever for Kamala.” 

Electing Harris would be the culmination of decades of work done by leaders like Richards, who worked for years as an activist and deputy chief of staff to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi before taking the reins of Planned Parenthood. A Harris win would be a major electoral victory for the abortion rights movement, but the long odds of federal legislation restoring abortion rights means that the fight to reestablish access will continue for years at the state level. 

“In all honesty, I fear it will take us a long time to restore the rights we once had,” Richards wrote. “For people who face challenges based on race, geography, income and more, these inequities are deep-seated, intersectional and much more difficult to eradicate. We need to be ready for a multi-year fight.”

After leaving Planned Parenthood in 2018, Richards co-founded Supermajority, a progressive organization focused on women’s representation in politics, and Charley, a chatbot that connects people with practical information about abortion. She also serves as co-chair of the super PAC American Bridge 21st Century. In January, Richards revealed she had been diagnosed in 2023 with glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.   

During Richards’ 12-year tenure leading Planned Parenthood, she established the organization as a powerhouse within Democratic politics — and pushed the party to embrace and fight for abortion rights in turn. Harris’ candidacy encapsulates that evolution. Harris took the lead on the White House’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. She also was the first president or vice president to visit a clinic that provides abortions and has put reproductive rights squarely at the center of her campaign. 

The loss of federal abortion rights was still hypothetical while Richards was fighting efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and combating mounting abortion restrictions at the state level. But when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in June 2022, it sparked a historic political backlash driven by women — one that has set the stage for Harris to possibly become the first woman and first woman of color to be elected president. Voters across the political spectrum have moved to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions in four states, and polls indicate they could do so in several of the 10 states voting on abortion this November. 

“We are finally making this shift from abortion being a political issue to being understood as a fundamental health care matter,” Richards wrote. “For too long, abortion has only been covered in terms of a political horse race rather than as a basic need unconnected to politics. As the stories pile up, we are seeing that abortion bans and maternal health care deserts affect everyone, though some more than others.”

Richards has continued her work advocating for abortion rights while living with cancer. At the Democratic National Convention in August, where abortion was a major theme, Richards had a speaking slot and helped cast the ceremonial votes for her home state of Texas for Harris alongside Kate Cox, the Texas woman who made national headlines when she sued the state in a bid to obtain an abortion. 

“We need to give credit to the women, doctors, and health care providers who have gone public over the last 10 years for leading us to this moment,” Richards wrote. “Abortion stories used to be only told in the shadows. It takes enormous courage to tell your story and repeatedly do so. I will never forget Doctor Rachael Phelps and Doctor Emily Godfrey, who broke their silence in the New York Times Magazine and proudly declared themselves abortion providers.”

In a New York Times op-ed published in January 2022, Richards wrote that her “one regret” from her time at the helm of Planned Parenthood was that she “underestimated the callousness” of Republican politicians. While abortion rights advocates couldn’t have worked harder, she wrote, they could have been “tougher.” Two and a half years after Dobbs, she said, the consequences of the decision to end federal abortion rights are still coming into focus. Other forms of reproductive health care, including in-vitro fertilization and birth control, have also come under attack. Former President Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance said that if elected, Trump would seek to cut funding for Planned Parenthood.  

“We are only just scratching the surface when it comes to fully comprehending the damage done by overturning Roe v. Wade. This isn’t like the Titanic sinking — for women across our country, the Titanic is continuing to sink every single day. Stories of women’s deaths are being reported, but these stories take a long time to unearth and research,” Richards wrote, pointing to recent reporting from ProPublica on women who died seeking care for miscarriages under Texas’ near-total abortion ban. 

Richards said she’s especially inspired “by the tenacity, commitment, and bravery” of young people carrying the torch in fighting for reproductive rights. But Richards, who is no stranger to tough campaigns and legislative battles, cautioned that the road ahead will be long — and won’t end with Harris’ election. 

“It is so important we make clear that a single election will not solve our problems,” Richards wrote. “There are politicians in so many states who have built their careers around taking away our rights — and they won’t give up easily. I am heartened by the resilience of the majority coalition in this country, which knows that politicians should not be making medical decisions.” 

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