Today is Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.
Of course, we appreciate physicians who provide abortion and the staff who support them and patients every day. They provide essential healthcare, despite the risks of working in a field that has been dangerously politicized by special interest groups seeking to deprive us of bodily autonomy and the lawmakers who serve them instead of protecting constituents.
Physicians who provide abortion often have to take risk-minimizing measures just to do their job, like staggering work routes—especially now as targeted harassment of abortion providers, like the number of abortion restrictions and public funding of anti-abortion activists running crisis pregnancy centers—is at an all-time high.
Amid this hostile climate, the majority of Pennsylvania’s abortion providers are going above and beyond personally caring for their patients and fighting for justice on behalf of all people with the capacity to become pregnant by serving as plaintiffs in litigation challenging Pennsylvania’s discriminatory ban on Medicaid funding. (We expect to present oral arguments in Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services before Pennsylvania Supreme Court this year.)
Such courage is all the more important at this moment, as federal protections for reproductive rights erode before our eyes and Pennsylvania’s anti-abortion lawmakers have signaled their goal is to criminalize abortion in Pennsylvania.
Make no mistake: The recently introduced anti-abortion constitutional amendment Senate Bill 956 is designed to pave the way to permanent criminalization. Senate Bill 956 (R-J. Ward) passed out of committee in January and is expected to go to a full vote soon.
We thank every single physician, clinician, and staffer for your bravery and commitment.
We do, however, want to take a moment to honor a special person: We are so grateful to WLP board member Dr. Lisa Perriera, MD, MPH for her ongoing devotion to both patients, advocacy, and tireless work toward a more equitable future.
We asked Dr. Perriera to share what she’d like you to know at this harrowing time in history:
I would like for people to know that I’ve been seeing patients from Texas and Ohio already. I want to mobilize people to recognize that abortion rights are just not a given and it could be illegal in Pennsylvania if we don’t continue to have lawmakers that support abortion care.
It is terrible that we as doctors may someday have to choose between providing safe, lifesaving medical care and breaking the law. Abortion is already out of reach for too many people. The fact that I’m in constant worry about what will happen in this country if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Roe is a burden providers shouldn’t have to shoulder. We should just be focused on providing excellent care.
We agree! Thank you Dr. Perriera, and all physicians, clinicians and staff providing abortion… today and every day.
Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond. As a non-profit organization, we can not do this work without you. Please consider supporting our work.
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