Honoring Health Providers Amid Ongoing Attacks

NEW YORK – Every year on March 10, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) joins fellow reproductive health, rights, and justice groups in celebrating National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day to honor and express our gratitude for the doctors, advanced practice clinicians, nurses, educators, and other health center staff who provide abortions, care for patients, and work tirelessly against abortion stigma.

National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers commemorates Dr. David Gunn, who was murdered by a white supremacist anti-abortion extremist on March 10, 1993. The day was created to honor the life and work of Dr. Gunn and all who provide abortion care.

Statement by Wendy Stark, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York:
“On March 10th we celebrate National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers, a day when we recognize and thank the compassionate, highly skilled, and deeply knowledgeable professionals and clinical staff who provide this critical care. Celebrating this day becomes increasingly complex as we face growing attacks on reproductive health care services like contraception, abortion, and gender affirming care. Our clinicians are tirelessly focused on providing patients compassionate, expert care despite escalating threats by people who want to block access to that care — including the Trump administration, abortion opponents in the streets and our legislatures, a new anti-abortion rights majority in Congress, and federal and state courts hostile to Planned Parenthood’s mission.

“These politically motivated attacks are an affront to abortion providers’ profession, expertise, deep commitment to patients, and to all who should have the right to make medical decisions for themselves and their families. Abortion is health care. Everyone deserves the right to their own body and their future. PPGNY providers are honored every single day to support people who are making their own health care decisions. Our doors are open, and we are here for our patients, no matter what. Here in New York, we are committed to doing everything possible to safeguard our right to bodily autonomy and fight for safety and dignity for sexual and reproductive health care providers and patients alike.”