Here you will find stories of individuals who have dedicated their lives to making abortion safe, legal, healthy, and accessible to women and girls. These people may be nurses, counselors, escorts, volunteers at abortion funds, or abortion doctors themselves. You will not see the faces of these providers to protect their safety. What you will see is the story they decide to share - how they came to abortion work, what their function is at their abortion clinic, or their personal abortion story. We want to humanize these individuals to convey the kindness, courtesy, justice, love, and respect they have for women and the health care choices women make. We share our stories in hopes of ending clinic violence, to alleviate the shame associated with the abortion experience, and as an homage to Dr. Tiller's outstanding and courageous life work.
Please respect this space as one of compassion, dignity and love. We do not cover our faces out of shame. We do so to recognize an unfortunate aspect of the lives of abortion providers -- we must always be wary of our safety. No one knew this better than Dr. Tiller.
I started in the pro-chioce movement as an activist. I was a volunteer escort, a marcher in parades, a fundraiser-er, and, then, eventually an abortion clinic worker.
All of my efforts are spurred on by the deep, deep feeling that the ability to control one’s body is a natural and inalienable right. That failure to give a woman control of her own body is a denial of her basic humanity and dignity.
I am Dr. Tiller.
For over a year I relied on a women’s clinic for affordable reproductive care. There were never protesters out front, but the procedure of being buzzed in and walking through a metal detector indicated the dangers that my own reproductive rights were wrapped in.
So, years later, I started escorting. I spend many Saturdays outside the clinic, helping patients past the prayers and harassers who hurl judgments and wave propaganda. I’ve been hit with a notebook and had the police called on me as I acted as a buffer for a patient being followed to her car. After doing this for years, being on guard around these folks is second nature. Still, never before have I really worried about my safety; never before have I had to fear that things were this dangerous. I am always careful—I watch for new faces, individuals distanced from the normal set of ‘more sane’ harassers. But still, looking at each one of their faces, I have to ask, what do they think is an acceptable course of action?
I help patients inside a clinic in DC; I believe that individuals have the spiritual, intellectual, and mental fortitude to direct their reproductive health, and that above all else woman need respect.
I am Dr. Tiller
No photo for security reasons.
I am a medical student. As a doctor, I intend to provide my patients with complete medical care, including abortion. As a future medical educator, I intend to teach my students about abortion. I became involved after I learned that my school, like most others, failed to teach medical students about abortion. What’s more, I was horrified at the misinformation about abortion that my fellow medical students carried with them – because no one was teaching them anything else. You cannot provide care for something you don’t know about or understand.
This dearth of information makes our mentors and teachers all the more important. Dr. Tiller look care of women and families as a physician. But through the way he chose to live his life, he was also a teacher and mentor. Although he has been taken from us, his role as a teacher and mentor does not end.
I hope to be Dr. Tiller. I strive to be Dr. Tiller.
My favorite line, “I’m proud to be an abortion provider.”
I’ve been an abortion clinic worker for many years and I also trust women. For years, I worked on the front lines, and I was forced to hear hateful language and incorrect messaging from protesters. No matter where life takes me or what roads I travel; I will forever be a proud pro-choice woman!
I am a medical student. But six years ago, I was in high school– pregnant and terrified.
The life I now have is fundamentally different from the one I would have been obligated to experience without the help of a dedicated abortion provider. Because there are doctors willing to provide this service at great personal risk, I was given another chance to achieve my goals. And because of this chance, I now have the opportunity to pay it forward by becoming an abortion provider.
I now have the opportunity to show those who would intimidate me into hiding, who would force me to abandon women and girls in need, that my conviction is stronger than theirs. I will not be ashamed. I will not be scared. And I will not ever forget the people who made these opportunities possible.
My name is Ruth Arick and I have been working in and with abortion clinics for nearly 35 years. I started in family planning clinics in Pennsylvania in the mid 70’s, was the Director of abortion clinics in Florida through the 80’s and have been consulting and training in abortion clinics around the United States since 1990. Shortly after walking in to my first clinic I knew that this was my life’s work…the work of my life.
In these many years I have worked with thousands of women seeking abortion care, even more of their loved ones, hundreds of men and women who lovingly staff the clinics, countless supportive people outside the clinics, scores of interested media folks, politicians, health care organizations, and political advocacy groups. The experiences I’ve had with every group have enriched my life in ways I could never have imagined when I began this work.
During my long career in abortion care I have had the good fortune to hear countless women’s stories; counsel women about their abortion decisions; be with loved ones during their time in a clinic; and be at the side of thousands of women as they went through an abortion procedure. I have learned so much about love, sacrifice, hope, joy, and strength from these many experiences. I am so fortunate, so blessed to have found this work so many years ago.
As a consultant I’ve been in more than 200 abortion facilities across the country; providing training and management services. I get to meet the staff and physicians who care deeply for the women in their practice. I get to meet patients in these clinics, to sit with these women and their families just as I did in my own clinics years ago. I get to share stories with staff, patients, and their support people. I still get to be a part of people’s abortion experience. Participating in such a profound event with anyone – especially a stranger – is one of the greatest gifts of this extraordinary work.
About my photo – I decided not to cover my face because I am personally convinced that the wrong people have told our stories for too many years. We are the only people who know the true value of our work, know our hearts, and know the hearts and stories of the women we care for. I believe it is time we speak for ourselves, show ourselves to be good citizens of our communities, good neighbors, good healthcare providers…good people. It’s time the world gets to know us for who we really are.
I am a lucky woman. I have three healthy children and a devoted husband. It wasn’t always like that. I have had two abortions and lost a child to a vicious and terminal genetic illness. This experience made me unwavering in my commitment to choice. Each day, I am inspired by the women (and men) I work with, but mostly I am inspired by my daughters. I want then to grow up in a society that respects their autonomy over their bodies. Nothing less will do.
I am an abortion provider-in-training. I look forward to being able to offer such a vital service to my future patients. I have been continually inspired by the clinicians and staff members who have taught me how to provide abortions, and, more importantly, how to be an abortion provider. This is an important distinction. Providing abortions really isn’t technically complicated from a medical perspective. Being an abortion provider, however, is a life-long commitment to believing in women, respecting their choices, and being a strong voice for justice, even when it may be unpopular or even unsafe. Dr. Tiller truly exemplified what it means to be an abortion provider. He will undoubtedly remain an important role model for all of us in the pro-choice community.
Being an abortion provider is a privilege. You are given the opportunity to take part in a woman’s journey as she reclaims her body and her future. Regardless of her circumstances, the process is always one of great emotional intensity – sadness, relief, forgiveness, hope, love. The most meaningful experiences of my medical training have all taken place within an abortion clinic.
There is truly nothing more beautiful or more real than what happens within the clinic walls. There is an incredible moment during every procedure when the woman’s nervousness and anxiety fades into a state of calmness. You can see the precise moment on her face, in her eyes. The entire atmosphere of the room changes. This is the moment when she realizes her own strength and resiliency. This is when she reclaims her body, her sense of self, and her future. And while there is often still sadness, it is a different kind of sadness, a sadness not defined by helplessness and despair. There is so much emotion within the short span of a few minutes that it is almost overwhelming. You, too, become transformed.
People often ask me how could I possibly want to provide abortions as a career. My answer, how could I possibly not.
My commitment to abortion care was solidified during my own abortion. I was in grad school, in another country and in no position for a pregnancy. I was fortunate enough that where I was had adopted a safe, free and legal abortion act in 1985. I was able to obtain a procedure in a healthy, clean environment without worrying about how I was going to pay for it. That’s not an experience that I could have had in the U.S.
After my abortion, I volunteered as an escort for two Philadelphia clinics. Every week, regardless of weather, I stood outside in my yellow smock and walked patients and their support people into the clinics. Sometimes there was one protester, often there were more. For a long time I felt as though all of their hateful comments were directed at me because I had had an abortion. I wanted to absorb some of the offensive speech for the womyn I was walking into the clinic; to act as a shield for them, to make their day just a little easier.
I work inside the clinic now and as a provider my job is to trust womyn, to respect them, to love and support them through what can often be a difficult time and offer them superior abortion care services. I am here to facilitate their decision, whether it is to have an abortion, carry to term or pursue adoption. That is what pro-choice means – having options with which to make a choice. Everyday I think about my decision to remain pro-choice, to work in a place under the constant threat of violence, to meet womyn with beautiful stories and lives and to make their day just a little easier by letting them know they are not alone. Everyday I choose not to be silenced.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s I worked at a grassroots, nonprofit women’s clinic and was present with thousands of women during their abortions. I also worked with compassionate, intelligent, and courageous women.
