Every day, abortion providers across the country provide essential health care to patients — with compassion and without judgment. They do this while navigating growing barriers to care that make it increasingly difficult to provide abortion.
Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette is recognizing National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers on March 10 to express our gratitude to the trusted, credentialed, highly-trained people who believe in the health, well-being and dignity of every patient every day.
Also on March 10, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners will be voting on a proclamation for National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. Special thanks to Commissioner Susheela Jayapal, who previously served on the PPCW Board of Directors, for her longtime leadership and commitment to reproductive health care.
We’re at a crisis point. The care and commitment of abortion providers is critical now more than ever, as access to abortion is under grave threat nationwide.
The U.S. Supreme Court has already allowed access to abortion in Texas to be decimated and has green-lit the unraveling of abortion protections around the nation. By this summer, the court could officially erase nearly 50 years of precedent and the constitutional right to abortion.
In a time of ongoing political attacks on reproductive rights, we need all doors to stay open. Patients need more places where they can access expert sexual and reproductive health care.
That’s why we are sending our love to every abortion provider — abortion doulas, doctors, advanced practice clinicians, nurses — who are each a key part of the ecosystem of abortion access. Independent abortion providers like Portland’s Lilith Clinic are on the front lines of this important work and are vital to our communities.
PPCW is proud to provide abortion services for the patients who depend on us for care. We ensure that patients have accurate information about the full range of their pregnancy options — including adoption, abortion and parenting — and can make their own, fully informed personal medical decisions about their health, families and futures.
While the Legislature has protected the right to abortion in Oregon, we know that a threat to abortion access anywhere is a threat to abortion access everywhere. Our neighboring state of Idaho will soon enact a copycat of the Texas ban that encourages people to spy on each other for cash rewards and allows them to sue abortion providers if a family member receives an abortion after six weeks.
As access to safe and legal abortion is threatened in other areas of the country, PPCW stands fiercely behind every person’s right to control their own body — whether or not they live in Oregon. We are working to build our capacity to provide care to Idahoans and to patients who may be forced to travel to Oregon. We are also providing timely access to abortion through innovative telehealth technology and working with our partners to navigate patients to care.
Abortion providers must be able to evaluate each individual’s care — without political interference. Every person is the expert in their own life — including their body, their pregnancy and their unique set of circumstances — and no one can make these decisions for someone else.
It’s unacceptable that abortion access in the United States is still determined by where you live and how much money you have. And because of systemic racism and discrimination, Black, Latino and Indigenous people face the greatest barriers to care.
We stand with our patients and will never back down. Abortion is health care, and access to abortion is essential. Today and every day, we are so grateful to the people who work tirelessly to provide abortion to those who need it.
Anne Udall serves as president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette. For more information visit PPCW.org.
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