Cecile Richards, president of Planned Planned Parenthood, is reportedly planning to step down, sources familiar with the matter told Buzzfeed Wednesday. Richards has headed the nation’s largest abortion provider since 2006.
Richards has reportedly already told some of Planned Parenthood’s board of directors.
A Planned Parenthood official told Buzzfeed that “Cecile plans to discuss 2018 and the next steps for Planned Parenthood’s future at the upcoming board meeting,” scheduled for next week.
This decision by Richards comes after a year of media appearances fighting attempts to defund the abortion giant which was a priority of President Trump and the Republican Congress.
Richards has also been spending a lot of time lately encouraging women to run for office. She asked white women to “do better” in a speech to the Women’s March in Las Vegas Saturday.
The Planned Parenthood official did not comment to Buzzfeed on Richards’ future plans. Her memoir, Make Trouble, is coming out in April.
Planned Parenthood performed 321,384 abortions over this past year, according to their latest annual report. Since Richard’s took the helm in 2006, the number of abortions Planned Parenthood performs annually has increased by nearly 11 percent.
The pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony List tweeted that there have been 3.8 million abortions during Richards' time at Planned Parenthood.
BREAKING: Abortion CEO @CecileRichards to step down from her role at Planned Parenthood, after 12 years and 3.8 MILLION lives lost to abortion under her leadership. #AbortionLegacyhttps://t.co/FvPWTQ59V7 #ProLife #DefundPP #PPSellsBabyParts
— Susan B Anthony List (@SBAList) January 24, 2018