Ten days before the 2016 election, I was standing in a cinderblock room in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with Cecile Richards and other leaders of prominent women’s groups, all of us out to make the case for Hillary Clinton’s historic run for President.

Cecile Richards, a women’s rights crusader who served as president of Planned Parenthood as the nation approached a critical inflection point over reproductive freedom, has died, her family said Monday in a statement.

She oversaw the United States’ largest provider of reproductive health care and sex education from 2006 to 2018.

"We’ve been investing in young people for the last 12 years, and now it’s really important that we make space for them to lead.”

After a devastating cancer diagnosis, the reproductive rights champion fought a battle on two fronts. Here, printed in full for the first time, is a conversation from last summer with the icon, who died on Monday at age 67.

Activism / The crusader for women’s and workers’ rights died Monday after a cruel illness. She inspires us to do the work ahead. Joan Walsh We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Cecile Richards—for infinite reasons.