Cecile Richards fights for abortion rights with chatbot Charley as she battles brain cancer
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) is under investigation, UPS CEO Carol Tomé announced 12,000 layoffs, and Cecile Richards is still fighting for abortion rights. Have a good Wednesday.
- Abortion access. For the past several months, former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards has been supporting the launch of Charley, a new chatbot that provides information about how to access abortion in each zip code in the U.S.
In a conversation last week, she told me she was "more committed than ever to restoring the rights we have in this country to make our own decisions about pregnancy." A few days later, the extent of Richards's commitment became even clearer. On Sunday, a New York Magazine profile revealed that for the past six months Richards has been living with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer with a 15-month median survival rate. In that article, Richards said that her current course of treatment has helped to "focus on what I want to do with the time I have."
Richards, the daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, led Planned Parenthood between 2006 and 2018. Two years after the 2016 presidential election, she left her role and pivoted to Supermajority, an organization that worked to build the voting bloc of women. She cofounded Charley after the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade with former Planned Parenthood chief strategy officer Tom Subak, with support from various reproductive rights organizations; the donor-funded project is now led by executive director Kiana Tipton.
Charley's chatbot launched this fall. Initially an attempt to combat abortion misinformation, Charley evolved into a platform that provides details about how to get an appointment or receive medication abortion by mail. Seventeen thousand people have used the chatbot in the past four months, the organization says.
While Richards went up against a host of anti-abortion activists and legislation during her time at the helm of Planned Parenthood, a chatbot may trigger new kinds of battles. Digital privacy has become paramount as abortion seekers in states with abortion bans search for information on Google or communicate about appointments and transportation over text or DM. Meta complied with Nebraska police warrants and turned over Facebook messages between a mother and daughter in one closely-watched abortion case. Jessica Burgess, who helped her daughter access medication abortion and dispose of the fetus, was sentenced to two years in prison in September.
Richards told me she's "not worried about legal challenges" and is focused on helping abortion seekers find information and access care. Charley only asks users for their location and the date of their last period and says it doesn't know further information about the people who exchange messages with the chatbot.
Looking ahead, Richards says a 2024 GOP presidential win would be a catastrophe. "It's indescribable how bad it will be if Donald Trump wins the election," she says. "We know that he'll sign a national abortion ban if he has the chance."
In the meantime, Richards urges everyone who cares about this issue to share information about medication abortion—which, while ensnared in an upcoming Supreme Court case, is still widely available—and be a resource for friends, family, and colleagues.
"If we can get information out to anyone who needs it, it will go a long way to solving an immediate problem as we work on restoring abortion rights in America," she says.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune's newsletter for and about the world's most powerful women. Today's edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
