US Sen. Hirono leads colleagues in honoring reproductive care, abortion providers

U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaiʻi) and Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) led 19 of their colleagues in reintroducing a resolution in honoring abortion providers and staff by designating March 10, 2025 as “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.”

The Abortion Provider Appreciation Day resolution affirms that abortion providers are valued as they provide reproductive 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 care, including abortions.

The introduction of this resolution follows a 2022 report by the National Abortion Federation, which shows a rise in major incidents like stalking and death threats directed at patients, abortion care providers, and volunteers.

“As we commemorate Abortion Provider Appreciation Day, we honor the bravery of these health professionals who provide crucial care to thousands of people across the country every day,” Hirono said. “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 March 10, 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,” he continued.

On the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade on Jan. 22 in 1993, Dr. David Gunn walked outside of The Beacon Women’s Clinic in Montgomery, Alabama with a boom box and held it high while blasting Tom Petty’s classic tune, ‘I Won’t Back Down,’ directly to the protesters outside that had been stalking him and harassing him for years, according to Wendy Gunn, Dr. Gunn’s daughter.

“He was fed up and wanted them to know that he would not be silenced or work in fear. Two months later he was gunned down while going to work in Pensacola, Florida,” Wendy Gunn said. “We must continue to fight with intense dedication and great fervor. And if we start to waver, remember that moment in 1993 when Dr. Gunn found his voice, and sing along as loud and as proud as you can.”

The Abortion Provider Appreciation Day Resolution demonstrates a commitment to abortion providers and staff by:

• Recognizing March 10, 2025 as “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day” to celebrate the courage of abortion providers and the high-quality care they provide to patients and families across the country;
• Lauding communities who proudly support their abortion providers and staff;
• Affirming the commitment of Congress to ensuring the safety of these health professionals, their ability to continue providing the essential reproductive care their patients need, and the right of patients to access abortion care regardless of where they live, free from violence and threats;
• Condemning the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States to limit abortion care, which had a devastating impact on abortion providers and the communities they care for, threatening their livelihoods; and
• Declaring a vision for a future liberated from all abortion restrictions and bans, and affirming the commitment of Congress to working toward this future with providers, patients, advocates, and their communities.

“With Trump and Republicans inciting violence and harassment at abortion clinics, the dedicated work of abortion providers is all the more essential in our fight to protect and advance reproductive justice. There is no just world in which abortion care providers should have to fear for their own lives and the lives of their patients,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley. “We are grateful for providers’ labor and perseverance to deliver for those seeking critical health care. I am grateful to Senator Hirono for her partnership and leadership and I am proud to reintroduce this resolution to designate “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day” to honor the commitment of abortion care providers and affirm the dignity, safety, and appreciation they so deserve.”

Abortion Provider Appreciation Day honors all the doctors, nurses, clinicians, counselors, and health care staffers for the commitment to protecting the lives and health of millions of people and for being a consistent support to communities across the country.

Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Brittany Fonteno, President and CEO, National Abortion Federation, both vowed to do everything they can to ensure abortion providers have the proper training, resources, support and ability to provide that care for their communities.

“Every day, abortion providers across the country provide time-sensitive and essential health care to patients — in confidence and without judgment. They do so while navigating escalating political attacks, medical disinformation, and threats on their lives and the lives of their families,” McGill Johnson said. On this Abortion Providers Appreciation Day, we thank them, we support them, and we honor them.”

Dr. Jamila Perritt, President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health, Poonam Dreyfus-Pai, Interim Executive Director of the National Network of Abortion Funds and Jackii Wang, a senior legislative analyst at the National Women’s Law Center, also expressed their support for the resilience, unwavering dedication and the trust coming from abortion and reproductive care providers.

Along with the organizations and agencies above, the resolution is also endorsed by Power to Decide; Guttmacher Institute; National Partnership for Women & Families; National Council of Jewish Women; Abortion Care Network; In Our Own Voice; National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum; and Center for Reproductive Rights.

“These are very dark times for reproductive freedoms. It is so important that we not lose sight in how we got here and just how much harder we have to work to restore these rights for everyone who deserves autonomy over their own body,” Wendy Gunn said.

In addition to Hirono and Peters, the resolution is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, Tammy Duckworth, John Fetterman, Martin Heinrich, Ed Markey, Patty Murray, Alex Padilla, Elizabeth Warren, Peter Welch, and Ron Wyden.

In addition to US Rep. Pressley, the resolution is cosponsored in the House by Representatives Diana DeGette, Dan Goldman, Hank Johnson, Delia Ramirez, Eric Swalwell, Nydia Velázquez, and Nikema Williams, and Hawaiʻi’s Jill Tokuda.

The full text of the resolution is available here.