Thursday, March 10th is a very special holiday at Whole Woman’s Health Alliance and Whole Woman’s Health. It’s Abortion Provider Appreciation Day (APAD), an annual celebration of the courageous, compassionate people who provide abortion care.
The roots of APAD show the risks abortion providers like ours face every single day. On March 10, 1993, Dr. David Gunn, an abortion provider in Florida and Alabama and father of two, was shot and killed by a white supremacist anti-abortion extremist. The murder of Dr. Gunn was part of a larger emphasis on violence by anti-abortion activists in the early 1990s.
According to the National Abortion Federation, Dr. Gunn was the first of 11 murders and 26 attempted murders due to anti-abortion violence. These targeted attacks against abortion providers and clinics reached a record high in 2020, with many reporting death threats, harassment, vandalism, and intimidation against them and patients.
Their safety and security are at stake just for showing up to work. Despite that, they continue to show up courageously and compassionately. Abortion care providers, like all health care professionals, deserve the trust and freedom to do the jobs they are proud to do: providing care their patients need and want.
APAD was established in 1996 and annually highlights the brave and essential work of abortion providers who provide abortion care in the face of increased political attacks, violence, and hatred.
It’s our hope to help you understand what we know – that abortion care providers are resilient, innovative, and adaptive. Their very presence is building a world in which each of us can shape our own futures and families.
These acts of violence are not based in truth but in stigma and misinformation perpetrated by our opposition. Proudly declaring your love for abortion providers and talking to people about the social and moral good they provide is one of the best ways to bust abortion stigma.
Watch your inbox tomorrow for a big way that YOU can help our abortion providers feel the love this APAD.