From PPNYC’s Email:
Please take a moment to show your support for safe and legal abortion services and the heroes who provide them.
The National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers was initiated in 1996 and co-sponsored by many national organizations, as a way to help create a positive climate for abortion providers across the country.
March 10 is the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. David Gunn, the first abortion provider murdered. It is a day to remember and honor Dr. Gunn and others who put their lives on the line daily to make reproductive choice possible. Without abortion providers, there can be no “choice.”
We must change the overall climate from one where abortion providers are vilified and attacked to one where they are honored and upheld as the heroes they are. end.
What You Can Do:
-Send a thank you note to show your appreciation for their heroism, perseverance, courage, and commitment to women or a personal story about how safe and legal abortion services have affected your life or the life of a loved one. Working for a reproductive rights organization, I get messages like this every day and they seriously, seriously make a huge difference in the morale of our staff. Reproductive rights and health organizations are constantly under scrutiny and attack for daring to provide women with health care and a choice, and getting even a few letters of support keeps us going.
-Volunteer as a clinic escort or to do any other essential tasks. Reproductive rights non-profits absolutely, 100% depend on our volunteers. Even an hour or so a week makes a HUGE difference.
-Donate. Your money helps fund essential, life-saving services (like Pap smears and cancer screening) for women and families who can’t afford them.
-Talk about the importance of maintaining and enhancing low to no cost reproductive health and abortion services. Blog, send emails, talk to your friends, etc. Spread the word about the critical help our movement needs.
If anybody wants tips or instructions on how to do any of the above things (addresses to send letters, phone numbers to call, places to volunteer, clinics most in need of donations), please leave a comment and I’ll respond to your email address (which I can see but the public can’t) with resources for you.
Murder:
-Dr. David Gunn
-Dr. John Britton
-James Barrett (clinic escort)
-Shannon Lowney (receptionist)
-Lee Ann Nichols (receptionist)
-Robert Sanderson (police officer, security/bodyguard)
-Dr. Barnett Slepian
-Dr. George Patterson
Attempted Murder / Assault:
-Dr. George Tiller (shot)
-June Barret (shot, wife of murder victim James Barrett)
-Five unnamed victims (shot in same incident that killed Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols)
-Dr. Calvin Jackson (stabbed)
-Anonymous doctor (shot in his home)
-Dr. Jack Fainman (shot in his home)
-Dr. Hugh Short (shot in his home)
-Dr. Garson Romalis (shot in his home)
-Emily Lyons (nurse, wounded in bombing that killed Robert Sanderson)
Total number of (reported) violent attacks on Women’s Health Clinics since 1977, including but not limited to murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, bombing, arson, death threats, stalking, anthrax threats, butyric acid attacks, and assault and battery:
5672
Total number of (reported) disrupting incidences at Women’s Health Clinics since 1977, including but not limited to picketing, bomb threats, and harassing phone calls:
132,827
Total number of (reported) clinic blockades since 1977:
752
The War’s Not Over
