Abortion Providers
On March 10, 1993, I got a call from a woman who owns an abortion clinic here in the Washington D.C. area. Through her hysterical tears I heard her say that “they just killed one of our doctors in Florida.” There was no more information after that – just the shocking statement. After that first call, all hell broke loose.
Within a few minutes, I got a call from Susan Hill, my long time friend and owner of a chain of abortion clinics known as the National Women’s Health Network. A few years earlier, Susan founded the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, the group that I worked for. She quickly confirmed that a doctor had been killed in Pensacola – and that the doctor had actually worked at one of her clinics. His name was David Gunn.
Abortion Providers
I’ve written before about the events that transpired once we received this shocking news. David Gunn’s murder was front page news for several days because he was the first abortion doctor to be killed for performing abortions. His assassin surrendered after pulling the trigger, was convicted very quickly and to this day remains in jail in Florida.
I share this story because yesterday was yet another anniversary of that horrible day. But I share it also because, although it was the day that Doctor Gunn was killed, March 10 is now known as “National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.”
Christian Prolife Convicted Murderer Terrorist
All across the country, it is a day when supporters of abortion rights take a moment to personally thank all of the doctors, staff and owners who work in or run abortion facilities. Actually, while I never shy away from the word “abortion,” I think “abortion facilities” is a misnomer because it minimizes the scope of the services these people offer to women. There is a lot more than abortion when you are offering reproductive health services. Indeed, take a minute to go to www.abortion.com and look at some of the websites of the clinics that are listed. You’ll get a much better idea of the amazing work that they do.
They irony, of course, is David Gunn and the other doctors who were later killed, were not just doing abortions. As the general public recently discovered with the Susan B. Komen fiasco, these doctors might also be performing mammograms or testing for chlamydia. Not to mention the provision of birth control which is on everyone’s tongue, especially Rick Santorum’s. Oh, the pro-lifers can wallow in their myopia over the abortions that are performed in these clinics, but any person of average intellect knows that there are more things going on in these facilities than abortions.
Abortion Provider Appreciation
This does not mean, however, that I am “apologizing” for the abortion services that are provided. To the contrary – I applaud my former colleagues for having the courage to perform this procedure knowing that their car could blow up at any time or that the next person walking up to them in the mall could be carrying a gun. As Doctor George Tiller found out when he was ushering parishioners into his church, there is no sanctuary from a demented mind who actually thinks he might be “saving babies” if he shoots an abortion doctor.
I want to applaud the abortion doctors who, despite the dangers, continue to be there to help the millions of women who have picked up the phone and made an appointment for an abortion. I applaud the counselors who take the time to talk to the women to make sure they are positive about their decision. And I applaud the nurses who hold the woman’s hand while she is in surgery.
Bravo.
Related articles
- Ok to Lie to Patients, if Abortion is Involved (aleksandreia.com)
- What It Means To Be An Abortion Provider (pinkbananaworld.com)
- Doonesbury Tackles Abortion (breadnroses.ca)
- Abortion clinic ‘targeted by hacktivist’ (thetimes.co.uk)
- Supporting women travelling to the UK for abortion (mamanpoulet.com)
Abortion - Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information 
March 11, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Thank you abortion providers for risking your lives everyday.
I know there are Christian Pro Life terrorists that want to kill you.
I appreciate the risks that you take and the good work that you do.
You all are extraordinary people.
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March 12, 2012 at 2:07 pm
I totally agree (obviously), Karen. Thanks for chiming in….
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March 11, 2012 at 6:35 pm
i always wondered why march 10was the day selected.
after nearly 20 years and more doctors and nurses killed and a church desecrated with the blood of a human sacrifice, we still have the randall terrys, the troy newman’s ( they might as well be one and the same. their tactics sure are ), the cathy riders and the john dunkles of the world running around unimpeded.
we still have law enforcement who will not enforce FACE because it is easier not to.
it doesn’t seem to me like much has changed
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March 12, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Actually, Rogie, I wonder if the Obama administration is enforcing the FACE law? I gotta do some research on that one. I can’t imagine them not pursuing credible cases. Maybe the pro-lifers are smarter and not crossing the FACE line?
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March 12, 2012 at 9:03 pm
well, i have no doubt that your president will enforce it, but it is a matter of getting the local law enforcement to do so.
a lot of choicers who work in clinics have told me otherwise. i have also seen videos of the chief of police of one city, blatantly admitting to allowing protesters blocking the entrance of a clinic because it was easier to allow them to than to enforce the law.
those protesters make things more difficult for peaceful protesters that are actually motivated to help those seeking abortions as well as for those who are there for an abortion, and police that won’t enforce the law allow them to make it harder for everyone else.
FACE allows for peaceful assembly. it is designed to protect everyone’s rights.
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March 13, 2012 at 1:08 pm
Obama would be anxious to enforce the FACE law and if someone was actually letting protestors block the entrances of a clinic, Obama would have the DOJ down there in an instant. I just dont think that is happening anymore. But, yes, the local police are responsible for watching someone who might cross the “no trespass” line, or who is violating a noise ordinance or a bubble zone.
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March 12, 2012 at 3:35 am
Pat Richard’s March 11 column on the abortion.ws blog is in the “sure-Hitler-killed-lots-of-people-but-he-got-the-trains-to-run-on-time” vein. Sometimes Pat gets tired. Still, as I keep telling you, of all those who rationalize the killing of young people, Pat’s the most literate and the most honest. Some might say – the best of a bad lot.
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March 12, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Funny, who is going to read what a lunatic who believes in Justifiable Homicide writes LOL!!!!
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March 12, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Thank you Abortion Providers around the world for risking your lives to help women.
God smiles proudly upon you!
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March 12, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Thank you, John ???
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March 13, 2012 at 12:33 pm
I am proud of my abortion provider!
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March 13, 2012 at 1:08 pm
Who is it, Casey? Say the clinic’s name!!
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March 12, 2012 at 9:32 am
Roggie…I think that what changed the day Dr Gunn was murdered…the innocense of perhaps the pro-choice community changed!! We knew that there were some “anti-choice’ers” that were “crazy” but I am not sure we wanted to think they would “kill us”!!
That bullet took the life of a “man..husband..father..friend..and a doctor that had saved and could have saved many more lives…the lives of desperate women……women just trying to deal with a desperate time in their life!!
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March 12, 2012 at 1:37 pm
We need legislation and executive enforcement to end all Christian Pro Life terrorism.
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March 12, 2012 at 2:12 pm
What I also recall about that day is once I composed myself, it really wasn’t a shock. I think we all knew that it was going to happen one day because the non-murder violence was escalating. Indeed, David Gunn had expressed concern about the protestors and I believe he had gone out and bought another gun (which was in his glove compartment when he was killed). And when he faced the protestors, he had a boom box and played Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” That because our “theme song” after that.
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March 13, 2012 at 3:27 am
I never thought I would carry a gun…but I did!! The police told me that I needed to carry one for my own protection…they firmly believed that there were periods when my life was in danger!!
My husband use to go by the clinic before he went to work and check it out…he got almost parinoid about it…then he said that he finally realized that he really couldn’t keep me safe… if she really wanted to kill me…Our family went through alot because of this one protestor!! But it made us stronger!!
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March 13, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Wow, Lorraine, I didn’t know you carried a gun! The FBI once came to my office and suggested I carry one but I just couldn’t do it. They also suggested I wear a bullet proof vest when I gave speeches. Like I could afford to put on a few more pounds…
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March 13, 2012 at 8:07 pm
you had to carry a gun to protect yourself from christian pro life terrorists?
That is terrible.
Law enforcement should have been doing a better job!
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March 15, 2012 at 4:04 pm
i agree, evan.
while each individual in law enforcement has the right to have and to express their opinion, their job is to enforce the law.
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March 17, 2012 at 4:31 am
They couldn’t be with you 24/7!! I was dealing with a crazy woman…that was eventually convicted of “stalking” me”!!
Pat…I didn’t look like a “pistol packing Momma” did I?? LOL There were many days I had to put my gun in my pocket…(take a deep breath) and go out onto the “battlefield…known in other businesses as the “parking lot” and confront the protester’s and the “she devil” herself…I couldn’t or wouldn’t call the CPD unless it was really urgent!! Because when I called I wanted to be sure they came “QUICK” and didn’t just roll their eyes and come very “slowly”!!
So yes…me and my .38 cal were inseperable for may years!!
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March 12, 2012 at 9:16 pm
i hope i didn’t seem to imply that his death changed nothing.
if i gave that impression,please forgive me.
what i meant was that his death wasn’t the end. others have died and others have been terrorized, and there are even some people who think that it is justified.
and what’s worse is that those people encourage such actions and nothing is done about it.
the staff being killed might be just a “pro-abort” to the murderer, but as lorriepoo points out, these people have friends and families that love them.
everyday there are spouses who wonder if today is they day they will be widowed. everyday there are children who wonder if today will be the day they are orphaned.
this has been going on since that day.
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March 13, 2012 at 4:41 am
I know my “job” definitely effected my daughter…she lived a very different life from that of her friends!! We use to laugh about her being the “go to girl” at school if someone had a question about birth control, abortion or pregnancy testing…or general “clinic info”!!
But more importantly unlike most kids that temp curfew..say they are going one place and end up somewhere else!! Shelley knew that she couldn’t do that…sometimes I wonder what our life would have been like if “cell phones” were NOT part of our lives!! I still feel the “horror” that I felt the night I got the phone call from the from the C.P,D. saying that she had been a a “horrible accident”!! I was told that I should go to the emergency room ASAP…after I got off the phone…caught my breath…was able to dial her #…she answered the phone…only then was I able to breathe!! (I am not sure they expected to see her stroll up to the entrance of the E.R. though!!
That was just one of so many things that happened…We were lucky to have raised such a strong, level headed daughter..otherwise the torment “that woman” put us through could have ruined her life!! One thing for sure…there are a lot of marriages that buckled under the stress…kids that were adversely effected by the stress…my family was fortunate!! We made it!! Some of my friends were not so lucky!! The people that tortured us …called themselves “good Christians”!?!? I’m NOT so sure they were…
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March 13, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Lorraine, so who made the call to you that night?
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March 17, 2012 at 4:49 am
We never knew for sure…it wasn’t the CPD although they identified themselves as Sgt..so & so!! But I was only hearing that there was a terrible accident!” Then after I hung up…scraped myself off the floor we called her cell phone…just praying that she would answer an she did!!
Then… we realized that it was protester’s I told her just please come home…she did…although he did it by way of going to the E.R. and when she pulled into the parking lot there was Rider’s husband and another protester standing at the entrance…she said she rolled down her window…they saw her car pull in and she “yelled a few (unladylike) things at them!! Then drove off!! I know they were disappointed NOT to see me running up the ramp like a “crazy person”!!
The next time I law the “she devil” she said “my husband said he saw Shelley at the E.R. I hope everybody is OK….or something to that effect!! At that time (under the orders of my attorney…) I was NOT allowed to say anything to her….So I just gave her a look from “hell” and went in the clinic!!
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February 10, 2014 at 7:07 am
Your body is still maturing so don’t get it done, that is why no cliinc will take you. You might be making a rash, life-changing decision so please wait till you are a fully-grown adult.
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February 16, 2015 at 10:16 pm
This weitsbe makes things hella easy.
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March 13, 2015 at 3:04 pm
That’s the best answer by far! Thanks for contributing.
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February 8, 2014 at 6:02 pm
Perhaps it is your own internal rasicm that takes offense to effective countermeasures the City of Chicago may have to consider to help with their invasion of Orangutan-sized Raccoons. Summer is coming on. Rabies represent a significant health risk to the public.
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March 12, 2012 at 1:07 pm
I agree with you Pat on this one more than 100%. Those clinics do much more than just abortion and those “crazy” pro-lifers don’t see that because they are always so focused in “their battle” that they forgot to see the other side of hat is done inside those clinics.
I have mentioned here maybe more than 1 time, my daughter had to use one of this clinics once and not because she wanted to have a abortion but because she had to being that her fetus had already died. We pass in front of the clinic to check it out, actually we stopped and my daughter and her husband entered to check it’s “cleaningness” and workers to feel comfortable and when we were leaving there was crazy people screaming in front of the place like we were there because we wanted too and the truth were that we were actually very upset with that situation…
It is sad that people tend to criticize other people not knowing what goes inside their life. Point fingers at someone is always easier than to look at your own life and problems.
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March 12, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Good points, Sonia. And, yes, it always disturbed me that pro-lifers would just make assumptions about the clinic staff (“they’re in it for the money”) or the cleanliness of the clinic (as if there was blood all over the floor). I dont mind criticism, but it should be based on facts, not the ramblings of some lunatic who has never been inside a clinic.
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March 12, 2012 at 5:05 pm
I recall several conversations, if you can call them that, I had with the numbnut protesters in Allentown. They believed there was blood on the floor, cockroaches on the walls and body parts scattered about. Of course, they were never inside. I was.
But they never let facts get in the way of a gory tale.
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March 13, 2012 at 1:14 pm
You know, they just get this crap from their national leaders and dont even question if it is factual or not. On the other hand, however, as we know there have been clincs that were pretty sleazy, although they’d never have cockroaches or blood on the floor. That sounds more like my son’s dorm room.
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March 15, 2012 at 4:11 pm
well, slime like gosnell had blood, cockroaches and cat feces and urine all over, and unfortunately, too many antis equate all clinics with his, just as far too many choicers equate me with the dunkles and roeders of the world.
the fact that every choicer i know denounce people like gosnell and brigham, and antis like me denounce people like dunkle and roeder make no difference to those people.
it is far too easy for them to define us as the same, rather than define us on our individual merits or lack thereof.
but i guess that is their prerogative.
but when you look for bad in someone or something, what do you suppose you will find?
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March 13, 2012 at 10:25 am
I think is always easy to make assumptions than to check it out what is behind door number 2… (pro-lifers of course)
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February 8, 2014 at 11:50 pm
Pet Peeve #1 OHMYGOD!!! Yes!!! I can’t stand when people bring their kids to patiers and then forget that they actually have to watch them! Ugh. It drives me crazy!And yes, I think Craig should be in the next vlog!
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March 18, 2012 at 3:14 pm
[…] with the threat of terrorism every day. Instead, they were intent on going to the clinic where David Gunn was […]
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May 1, 2012 at 12:12 pm
[…] In Appreciation of Abortion Providers (abortion.ws) […]
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