This post first appeared on Truthout.com as a SpeakOut essay
With abortion providers and abortion rights fast disappearing, it is particularly regrettable that the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers came and went on March 10 with little fanfare. It was well worth celebrating and its passage is worth noting.
The day did indeed get some good coverage, including at least one excellent blog post noting the degree of vilification and abuse that providers suffer today. And it raised the hackles of a few on the right fringe: a blogger on Free Republic, for example, called it “the most disturbing holiday of the year,” – tossing in the opinion that abortion providers are “people who make lucrative piles of money for tearing babies apart.”
Not exactly. Abortion providers, many of whom work hard to keep services available to the mostly poor and voiceless women who are victims of today’s fringe politics, would be surprised to hear themselves described as making “lucrative piles of money.” What they do is in fact poorly compensated in dollars but richly rewarded by the gratitude of women who seek their services.
A National Year of Appreciation for Abortion Providers – while their ability to provide this fundamental women’s healthcare need remains – would be appropriate.