[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 78 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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;
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 far-reaching consequences 
        in both deepening existing inequities caused by structural racism and 
        systemic discrimination in the maternal health care system and worsening 
        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;
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
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
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes Abortion Provider Appreciation Day to 
        celebrate the courage, compassion, and high-quality care that 
        abortion providers and clinic staff offer to patients and their 
        families across the country;
            (2) lauds communities across the country who are proud to 
        be home to abortion providers and clinic staff;
            (3) affirms Congress' commitment to ensuring the safety of 
        abortion providers, their ability to continue providing the 
        essential care their patients need, and the right of their 
        patients to access abortion care no matter where they live, 
        free from fear of violence, criminalization, or stigma; and
            (4) declares a vision for a future where access to abortion 
        is liberated from restrictions and bans universally, and 
        affirms Congress' commitment to working toward this goal in 
        partnership with providers, patients, advocates, and their 
        communities.
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