Outgoing Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards Still Wants To Make Trouble

For one of the most vilified women in America, Cecile Richards is very warm. She’s self-deprecating, lively and attentive to guests. She apologizes for the terrible coffee an assistant brings from the office machine but drinks it anyway. Her mascara is a little smudged over her right eye. She looks down when thinking; it’s not effortless for her. She’s human.

But until May, when she decamps her post, Richards is also the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, an organization that provokes only strong feelings in people. Reliable surveys show that most citizens do not believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Other equally reliable surveys show that most Americans answer no when asked if a woman should be able to get an abortion “for any reason.”

So Richards has been hailed both as “an extraordinary leader in vertiginous times” (by the editor of the Nation) and “the most vile person currently walking this planet” (by a writer for RedState).

More From TIME Magazine: