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Five Questions with Cecile Richards

Joyce Vance

Mar 23

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From 2006 to 2018, Cecile Richards served as the president of Planned Parenthood and guided a generation of activism in the face of renewed challenges to women’s rights.

That means there is no one better for us to hear from ahead of next Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court will hear consolidated arguments in two cases: FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco Labs v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the Mifepristone cases. The Court’s decision will determine whether women across America will have access to medication-based abortions.

The Court will take up some technical legal issues, including whether the groups and individuals who are challenging the FDA’s decisions about mifepristone have standing to bring the case and they could dismiss the case on those grounds short of reaching a decision about Mifepristone itself if a majority is so inclined. If you want a refresher, we’ve discussed this case at various stages in the process, including after District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued his first ruling calling the FDA’s initial approval for the drug and expanded use during the pandemic into question. We discussed it more as the appeal moved forward.

So tonight, we turn to Cecile, who remains one of the most trusted voices in the country on these issues. She has continued her work in this space since leaving Planned Parenthood and is the co-founder of Charley, a chatbot that provides information about abortion options in every zip code in the U.S., and a co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century. You can also keep up with her on Instagram and X.

“Five Questions” is a feature for paid subscribers to Civil Discourse. The rest of my posts are available to all subscribers. Thank you to those of you who are able to support my work financially so I can devote more time and resources to it. I value having all of you here, and paid subscriptions permit me to share the newsletter freely throughout the week.