Image: Senator Mazie K Hirono (D-Hawaii) – Photo Courtesy
U.S. Senators Mazie K Hirono (D-Hawaiʻi), Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) led 19 of their colleagues in reintroducing a resolution honoring abortion providers and staff and designating 10 March 2025 as “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day”.
In 2025, this has affirmed that abortion providers are valued for continuing to provide reproductive health care despite pressures, restrictions, political interference, and threats to their personal safety. It also highlights the essential role that these providers play in providing safe access to reproductive health care, including abortions.
The introduction of this resolution follows a 2022 report by the National Abortion Federation that showed a rise in major incidents like stalking and death threats, directed at abortion patients, abortion care providers and volunteers.
“I’m proud to reintroduce this resolution in recognition of these essential health care providers, who continue to help their patients even in the face of violence, threats, and intimidation. Today, we also reaffirm our commitment in the fight to protect and secure reproductive rights for all.”
“Abortion providers deliver essential, lifesaving health care to patients in need all across this country,” Peters said. “Particularly since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, these medical professionals have faced threats and personal attacks but continue to make sure Americans can receive reproductive health care. I’m honored to once again lead this resolution with Senator Hirono to recognize their courage and dedication.”
The resolution was inspired by Dr. David Gunn, an abortion provider who was killed outside his clinic in Pensacola, Florida by a white supremacist and anti-abortion extremist in the first known instance of the murder of an abortion provider. To honor his legacy, Abortion Provider Appreciation Day was established on 10 March 1996, as a day to show appreciation for the essential, high-quality care that abortion providers and staff provide to their communities and to celebrate their courage and dedication.
“Our father believed in and trusted his patients to make the best possible decisions regarding their families, which stands in direct opposition to those in the current administration who rely upon fear, hatred, coercion, guilt, and the power of the church and state to dictate their choices, liberty, and bodily autonomy,” said David Gunn, Jr., son of Dr. David Gunn. “Therefore, on the 32nd anniversary of our father’s assassination, we reiterate and reaffirm his trust and faith in the individual, not in the state, when it comes to matters of reproductive choice and health. We stand with the provider community at large and wholeheartedly support their dedication to the proposition that individual choice, not state sanction, is the key to freedom and liberty.”
SOURCE: Kauainow News, 11 March 2025.