SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
Today and Every Day, We Celebrate Abortion Providers
Written by Jeff Koetje, MD, AMSA Reproductive Health Programming Strategist
Today, March 10, marks Abortion Provider Appreciation Day (APAD), a day dedicated to recognizing the courage and commitment of healthcare providers who offer abortion care, and celebrating the folks who ensure that those who need abortions can get them. Especially since the Dobbs decision in 2022, abortion care providers have increasingly faced threats, intimidation, violence, and legal repercussions for providing an essential healthcare service. Today, we honor their work, acknowledge the challenges they face, and shower them with gratitude, appreciation, and love.
On this day, each year, we pay homage to Dr. David Gunn and countless other abortion providers who have devoted their lives to abortion care, and who, in some cases, have lost their own lives to the violence of the anti-abortion movement. On March 10, 1993, Dr. Gunn was murdered by a white supremacist anti-abortion extremist – he was the first provider to be killed solely for his work as an abortion provider.
Beginning in 1996, as a way to honor Dr. Gunn’s life and work,
and to honor all of the courageous, compassionate people who provide abortion care,
March 10 became the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers.
Dr. Gunn’s compassionate and empathetic care brought in patients from near and far to him. Through his work, he provided life-affirming and life-saving care to those who needed an abortion.
Abortion Provider Appreciation Day is a day – as good as any – for those of us who work on the AMSA Reproductive Health Project to reflect on the meaning of our work, in relation to the work of those whom we honor and lift up today. The AMSA Reproductive Health Project has a primary purpose of enriching the abortion provider training pathway by supporting and nurturing future physicians who will provide abortion care as part of their clinical practice. Additionally, we engage with any and all future physicians who are interested in learning how to more effectively use their social, professional, and political power to advocate for reproductive health and rights, in alignment with the framework(s) of the Reproductive Justice Movement. While our project is, at the highest level, a project of undergraduate medical education and training about abortion care and family planning, it is also, at its core, a project that seeks to make a meaningful contribution to the projects of reproductive freedom, reproductive justice, and collective liberation.
The AMSA Repro Project is celebrating APAD 2025 in several ways, and we are kicking things off with a series of social media posts each day this week, with messages of love and affirmation for our abortion care colleagues here in the US and everywhere in the world. We’ll also be featuring short video segments of conversations that Araam Abboud, AMSA Repro Project Intern, had with abortion providers with whom the AMSA Repro Project works closely, including our beloved Dr. Aliye Runyan and Dr. Kristyn Brandi. Check out these daily posts @AMSANational Instagram.
Throughout this week and well beyond this week, we are taking action against abortion stigma. Unfounded stigma perpetuated around abortion care hovers over patients and providers alike -– together we can break down these stigma, recognize the harms they cause, and make change in our institutions, practices and communities. To that end we are pleased to announce and invite you to participate in our first AMSA Repro Spring Friend-Raiser!
Throughout March and April special opportunities and resources designed to help break down abortion care stigma will be shared via our Repro eNews, Spotlights in AMSA On Call, and local gatherings with AMSA Chapters, members and like-minded colleagues. Prizes and special funding to support gatherings will be awarded to participating AMSA members.
Here are 2 opportunities to get things rolling!
- Invite your friends and classmates to sign-up for our AMSA Repro eNews: the first 20 AMSA members who get 5 friends to sign-up HERE and put YOUR NAME in the “How did you learn about AMSA Repro eNews” box will win the AMSA T-shirt or mug of their choice.
- Organize a Watch Party with your friends or classmates of the new award-winning documentary film Zurawski v Texas. This film reveals the dire impact of losing access to healthcare—and the extraordinary efforts of the women and men fighting on the frontline to regain those rights. Help to organize watch parties, including limited funding for food and beverages, are available through the AMSA Repro Project. The film is available for viewing in the U.S and Canada at no cost until April 28 – watch the preview here.
Find info and sign-up to organize a Watch Party sign-up here.
Stay Tuned, more tools and resources to break down abortion care stigma to come!
The AMSA Repro Project honors, celebrates, and loves abortion providers; and we honor, celebrate, and love future abortion providers and those just getting started in their practice of care. We know that this is an incredibly challenging (and exhausting) moment, and we know that the stakes are so high. The way you show up for people needing abortion care inspires us to show up for the work necessary to ensure that there will always be a well-trained professional available for every person who needs an abortion, no matter when, no matter where, no matter why. Today, and every day, we appreciate, honor, and love every abortion provider!
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