The mayor of Minneapolis joined St. Paul in naming Tuesday “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day,” while pro-choice groups and leaders across the country celebrated abortion doctors as “superheroes.”
National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers was started in memory of Dr. David Gunn, the first abortion provider killed in the U.S., on March 10, 1993. We remember Dr. Gunn today and #CelebrateAbortionProviders who work everyday to care for patients with compassion. pic.twitter.com/7FyUhTolWU
— Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) March 10, 2020
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, named March 10 Abortion Provider Appreciation Day and applauded the work of a local provider, Whole Woman’s Health.
“Every day, abortion providers like Whole Woman’s Health deliver high-quality care in the face of harassment and threats to abortion access at the federal and local levels,” Frey told the local CBS affiliate. “I’m proud to recognize today as Abortion Provider Appreciation Day to celebrate Whole Woman’s Health as an essential part of our community.”
The St. Paul, Minn., city council previously passed a resolution declaring March 10 as Abortion Providers Appreciation Day to “celebrate the courage, compassion, and high-quality care” abortion doctors provide.
March 10 is the anniversary of abortion doctor David Gunn’s death. He was shot and killed in 1993.
“Happy Abortion Provider Appreciation Day to all those who enable women to control their own destinies! You are all real live superheroes. #CelebrateAbortionProviders,” tweeted Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Accompanying Hogue’s tweet was a gif of DC Comics superheroes.
Happy Abortion Provider Appreciation Day to all those who enable women to control their own destinies! You are all real live superheroes. #CelebrateAbortionProviders pic.twitter.com/oIWhHOuH3F
— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) March 10, 2020
The pro-choice Lilith Fund tweeted a gif of a colorful cartoon version of Wonder Woman flying under the message, “Actual footage of an abortion provider going to work. #CelebrateAbortionProviders.”
Actual footage of an abortion provider going to work. #CelebrateAbortionProviders pic.twitter.com/NLYxmBcc3E
— Lilith Fund (@lilithfund) March 10, 2020
But pro-choicers received plenty of pushback on social media.
“It just comes off really ghoulish,” one person wrote on Twitter. “You don't have to make it ghoulish to be pro-choice. Remember when we said ‘safe, legal and rare’ and treated this as a very difficult decision for women? Now we're #ShoutYourAbortion and it got ghoulish.”
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, also spoke out.
“Today, @NARAL and others are acting like abortionists are serving our country on the frontlines of a war against an evil regime or something,” Hawkins tweeted. “In reality, they are the ones waging the war upon the vulnerable and those without a voice every single day.”
Today, @NARAL and others are acting like abortionists are serving our country on the frontlines of a war against an evil regime or something. In reality, they are the ones waging the war upon the vulnerable and those without a voice every single day. https://t.co/Pob97tMP5N
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) March 10, 2020
Related:
St. Paul City Council Celebrates ‘Abortion Providers Appreciation Day’
Trump Admin. Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Pro-Life Law, Citing Gosnell ‘Atrocities’
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/September15
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
