Cecile Richards has served as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America since 2006. | Jose Luis Magana/AP photo Cecile Richards to depart Planned Parenthood

Cecile Richards is stepping down as president of Planned Parenthood after more than a decade in the post, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Her departure comes amid the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate taxpayer funding for the group, and after Richards helped navigate the women's health organization through numerous attacks from anti-abortion advocates.


The organization has yet to confirm her departure, saying only that she plans to discuss her next steps at an upcoming board meeting scheduled for next week. The news of her departure was first reported by BuzzFeed, which cited two sources familiar with her decision.

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The Trump administration, as part of its anti-abortion agenda, has been supportive of state efforts to exclude Planned Parenthood from public health programs, such as the Title X family planning program and Medicaid. The administration has also scaled back an Obamacare rule requiring employer health plans to cover contraception.

Richards navigated the group through the fallout from a series of activist videos in 2015 that purported to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing sales of fetal tissue, which sparked congressional and state probes into the organization. No investigation found any wrongdoing, but the Trump administration recently indicated it may be conducting its own review.

Richards, daughter of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, has served as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the group's political arm, since 2006.

Richards, 60, is set to release a memoir in April titled “Make Trouble.”

Before joining Planned Parenthood, Richards was deputy chief of staff to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. In 2004, she founded America Votes, a coalition of grass-roots groups that worked on voter registration, education and participation. She began her career organizing hotel, health and janitorial workers in California, Louisiana and Texas.