Visit
Home > News & Commentary > Every day should be Abortion Provider Appreciation Day

Every day should be Abortion Provider Appreciation Day

Trigger Warning: This statement mentions pregnancy complications and violence.

“Sometimes this work pushes me to the edge,” an abortion provider told me the other day. “It tests my physical and emotional boundaries. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way. This work is necessary.” 

Today is Abortion Provider Appreciation Day, a day to celebrate the selfless and heroic act of providing compassionate abortion care. The holiday was started in 1996 in honor of Dr. David Gunn, an abortion provider fatally shot on March 10th, 19931. More than a quarter-century later, abortion providers and clinics still face constant hostility and harassment.  

This year, almost 400 anti-abortion bills were introduced in state legislatures across the country2. With horrifying bills like Arkansas’ near-total abortion ban passed yesterday3, the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade,  which would mean that legal abortion for people living in 22 states – including our neighbor Idaho – would effectively end, and the average distance needed to travel to reach an abortion clinic would increase from 36 to 280 miles4. This is a stark reminder that the work is at the state level5. 

In fact, Washington state has seen a recent increase in anti-abortion and white nationalist action outside abortion clinics. More than 50% of Washington’s hospital beds have operating policies that restrict abortion and other forms of reproductive health services, despite the codification of Roe in Washington in 1991.  

As Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, I have thought a lot about what Abortion Provider Appreciation could look like in this context. While we shout out our love for abortion provider heroes, it is clear that we need to do more. 

Our job as a grassroots movement is to drive the necessary policy and cultural shifts that will make it easier for abortion providers to do their work. Over time, education, community-building, advocacy, and lobbying will shift the narrative and will help people see that there is nothing radical, nothing extreme, nothing controversial about providing compassionate healthcare. This movement is built on love and deep respect for autonomy.

Abortion providers and independent clinics deserve so much more than just one day. Their work makes it possible for every person in a community to enjoy reproductive freedom, whether or not they directly receive abortion care. Please join me in celebrating Abortion Provider Appreciation Day by becoming a reproductive freedom member to help ensure providers can provide without fear. Please also consider sharing your love and gratitude for our incredible reproductive freedom partners and independent abortion clinics by finding and supporting local independent abortion clinics here.

In solidarity,

Kia Guarino

About Kia Guarino: Kia Guarino is Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. 

  1. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/11/us/doctor-is-slain-during-protest-over-abortions.html
  2. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-lawmakers-anti-abortion-bills_n_603fc7a7c5b682971504cc71 
  3. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/09/politics/arkansas-near-total-abortion-ban/index.html 
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/15/upshot/what-happens-if-roe-is-overturned.html 
  5. https://msmagazine.com/2021/03/03/2021-anti-abortion-laws-states/

More News & Commentary

Press Releases

Joint Statement on Virginia Mason and CHI Franciscan Merger Plan

Joint Statement on Virginia Mason and CHI Franciscan Merger Plan FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 21, 2020 Media Contact: Brian Robick, ACLU of Washington, [email protected], 206-513-1421 Sarah Muir, NARAL, sarahmuir@prochoicewashington.org, 206-624-1990 Judy Kinney, End of Life Washington, [email protected], 206-256-1636 x6 Bob Free, End of Life Washington, [email protected], 206-465-5290 Eliza Amon, Legal Voice, [email protected], 917-686-4185 SEATTLE -- Reproductive health, LGBTQ+, and end-of-life care advocates in Washington state are deeply concerned that CHI Franciscan, a religious health system, and Virginia Mason, one of the state’s few remaining large secular health systems, plan to merge. If the proposed merger moves forward, Virginia Mason will deny patients access to certain reproductive and end-of-life care options at their facilities. “Virginia Mason’s plans jeopardize access to reproductive and end-of-life care, subordinating patients’ health care needs to religious doctrine,” said Leah Rutman, Health Care and Liberty Counsel for the ACLU of Washington. “Even worse, this is not the first move of this kind, nor is it likely to be the last. Washington state is a growing epicenter of religious-secular health system affiliations. In 2010, 26% of the state’s hospital beds were in religious or religiously affiliated health systems. With this merger, that number would rise to above 50%.” The impact extends far beyond hospitals. The two combined health systems would operate 12 hospitals and more than 250 sites of care statewide, including medical centers, clinics, and hospice. Catholic Health Systems, like CHI Franciscan, are bound by the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (“ERDs”). Promulgated by religious leaders and not medical professionals, these directives forbid or severely restrict many reproductive and end-of-life health care services. These services include contraception, vasectomies, fertility treatments, hormone treatments, tubal ligations, abortion, Death with Dignity, and advance directives that are contrary to Catholic teachings. Adherence to the ERDs may also increase the likelihood that LGBTQ+ individuals and families will face discrimination in seeking to access health care services consistent with their medical needs. Prior affiliations between CHI Franciscan and secular health systems have resulted in hospitals and clinics refusing to provide pregnancy terminations – even, in some cases, when a patient is suffering a miscarriage. These affiliations have also resulted in Death with Dignity care prohibitions – including disallowing doctors from acting as consulting or prescribing physicians under the Death with Dignity Act. “This Act enables terminally ill adults to request medication so they can die on their own terms,” said Judy Kinney, Executive Director for End of Life Washington. “We have seen significant suffering and even violent suicides when Washingtonians cannot access these services.” When Highline Medical Center became part of the Franciscan Health System (now CHI Franciscan), Highline agreed not to engage in actions that conflict with the ERDs. Similarly, when Harrison Medical Center affiliated with Franciscan Health System, doctors were no longer allowed to prescribe Death with Dignity medications, and the health system prohibited “elective abortions.” “If this deal goes through, Virginia Mason will become the latest Washington health system wielding religious doctrine to restrict access to safe and legal health care services,” said Kim Clark, Senior Attorney for Legal Voice. “These restrictions, disproportionately harm women, terminally ill patients, communities of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, low-income populations, and rural communities.” This is especially true in Yakima County, where there is a diverse and underserved population, and high rates of STIs and unintended pregnancies. After this merger, the county’s religiously affiliated hospital bed number will go from zero to over 70% – reducing access to reproductive health care. “We know what is at stake when these mergers occur,” said Lillian Lanier, Political and Organizing Director at NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. “Patients at these hospitals are unable to receive basic health care services. These denials put patients at risk, cause unnecessary delays, increase costs, and at times mean patients are unable to receive certain forms of reproductive health care altogether. Patients and activists are looking for bold leadership from elected leaders to ensure all Washingtonians can get the care they need, no matter where they live." Everyone should have access to a full range of legal quality health care services. Health systems must prioritize patient needs over religious doctrine. Virginia Mason should refuse to limit the reproductive and end-of-life care they provide. Signed, ACLU of Washington Coalition for Inclusive Health Care End of Life Washington Gender Justice League GSBA: Washington's LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce Legal Voice NARAL Pro-Choice Washington Northwest Abortion Access Fund Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA) Surge Reproductive Justice Washington ACOG Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence