IV 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 78 

Expressing support for the recognition of March 10, 2022, as ‘‘Abortion 

Provider Appreciation Day’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2022 

Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself, Ms. BUSH, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. JAYAPAL, 

Ms. LEE of California, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, and Ms. PRESSLEY) 

submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the recognition of March 10, 2022, 

as ‘‘Abortion Provider Appreciation Day’’. 

Whereas March 10 has been established as a day to show appreciation for the essential, high-quality care that abortion providers and clinic staff provide to their communities and those traveling to their communities, and to 

celebrate their courage, compassion, and dedication to 

their work; 

Whereas this date is established in honor of Dr. David Gunn 

who was killed outside his abortion clinic in Pensacola, 

Florida, by a White supremacist, antiabortion extremist, 

in the first known instance of the murder of an abortion 

provider on March 10, 1993; 


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Whereas abortion providers and clinic staff play a critical role 

in a world where people must be able to make essential 

and time-sensitive decisions about their bodies, lives, and 

futures; 

Whereas abortion providers and clinic staff help to ensure 

that all people who can become pregnant can make their 

own decisions about their bodies and their pregnancies, 

and support their patients’ decisions by treating them 

with dignity, empathy, compassion, and respect; 

Whereas abortion providers and clinic staff play an essential 

role within the reproductive justice framework, which was 

created by a group of Black women in 1994 who determined the necessity of adopting a human rights framework that demands every person has the human right to 

bodily autonomy, which includes if, when, and how to 

have children, to not have children, and to parent the 

children they have in safe and sustainable communities; 

Whereas people seeking abortion care across the United 

States also rely on the work of abortion funds and practical support organizations to access abortion care for 

themselves and their families; 

Whereas abortion funds and practical support organizations 

that rely on donations face increasing demand as people 

are forced into the vicious cycle of having to travel longer 

distances, find childcare or lodging, and raise money to 

obtain an abortion and cover associated costs; 

Whereas restrictions on accessing abortion care have farreaching consequences in both deepening existing inequities caused by structural racism and systemic discrimination in the maternal health care system and worsening 


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health outcomes for pregnant people, people giving birth, 

and their families; 

Whereas abortion care restrictions in some States have forced 

many abortion clinics to shut down, such that 90 percent 

of counties in the United States today do not have an 

abortion provider, the number of independent abortion 

clinics in the United States has declined by one-third 

since 2012, and efforts to undermine critical supports for 

patients, including family planning supports, have further 

threatened the work of abortion providers; 

Whereas restricting access to abortion care creates and increases the out-of-pocket costs and logistical burdens that 

patients face to get care while exposing the remaining 

abortion providers and staff to increased levels of harassment and politically motivated restrictions; 

Whereas the National Abortion Federation’s 2020 statistics 

on violence and disruption found an alarming escalation 

in incidents of obstruction, vandalism, and trespassing at 

abortion clinics, with abortion providers reporting an increase in death threats and threats of harm from 92 incidents in 2019 to 200 in 2020; 

Whereas Black, indigenous, and other providers and patients 

of color face heightened levels of threats, harassment, 

and violence as compared to their White counterparts; 

Whereas 2021 marked the worst year for abortion rights 

since Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)) was decided, 

and the passage and enforcement of restrictions on abortion access and the criminalization of abortion has 

emboldened antiabortion individuals and groups to continue to harass providers and the patients they care for; 


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Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States is now (as 

of the date of adoption of this resolution) considering 

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (141 

S.Ct. 2619 (2021)), a case that the Justices could use to 

overturn or severely undermine Roe v. Wade, and at the 

same time has refused to block Texas’s blatantly unconstitutional ban on abortion at approximately 6 weeks of 

pregnancy, allowing Texas to ban the majority of abortions in the State; 

Whereas the ripple effects of Texas’s abortion ban have been 

felt by communities and abortion providers across the 

country as abortion clinics try to absorb the massive influx of Texas’s patients who have the resources to travel 

and are seeking abortion care elsewhere; 

Whereas should the Supreme Court overturn or severely undermine Roe v. Wade, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, 

North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South 

Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming could act as soon as possible to 

prohibit abortion and criminalize abortion providers; 

Whereas Roe v. Wade alone has never been sufficient to ensure that all people, especially Black people, indigenous 

people, people of color, working class and low-income people, LGBTQIA+ people, people who are immigrants, 

younger people, people with disabilities, geographically 

isolated people, and people with multimarginal identities, 

can get the abortion care they need; 

Whereas the unraveling or overturning of Roe v. Wade 

threatens the ability of abortion providers and the clinic 

staff who support them to serve their patients; and 


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Whereas in the face of multifaceted attacks on their work, 

abortion providers remain an essential and valued part of 

their communities, providing high-quality, compassionate, 

and necessary health care, and courageously delivering 

this care despite pressures, restrictions, political interference, and violent threats to their personal safety: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) recognizes Abortion Provider Appreciation 

4 Day to celebrate the courage, compassion, and high5 quality care that abortion providers and clinic staff 

6 offer to patients and their families across the coun7 try; 

8 (2) lauds communities across the country who 

9 are proud to be home to abortion providers and clin10 ic staff; 

11 (3) affirms Congress’ commitment to ensuring 

12 the safety of abortion providers, their ability to con13 tinue providing the essential care their patients 

14 need, and the right of their patients to access abor15 tion care no matter where they live, free from fear 

16 of violence, criminalization, or stigma; and 

17 (4) declares a vision for a future where access 

18 to abortion is liberated from restrictions and bans 

19 universally, and affirms Congress’ commitment to 


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1 working toward this goal in partnership with pro2 viders, patients, advocates, and their communities. 

Æ 


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