NEW YORK--The American Civil Liberties Union is proud to stand today in support of abortion providers nationwide who have demonstrated remarkable courage, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to women.

While today is a day of appreciation, March 10th also commemorates the anniversary of a tragic event: the 1993 murder of Dr. David Gunn in Pensacola, Florida. In the eight years since that violent act, anti-choice extremists have continued to harass and intimidate doctors, their staff, and their families.

In 2000, incidents of arson, bomb threats, and acts of vandalism to reproductive health care clinics continued. Meanwhile, two suspects believed to be responsible for some of the most violent anti-choice attacks of the past decade, Eric Rudolph and James Kopp, remain at large. And last month, a convicted felon who had stalked and plotted to murder abortion providers and their staff in several states, Clayton Waagner, escaped from an Illinois county jail. As of this writing, his whereabouts are unknown.

Unfortunately, the threat to providers is not likely to abate in the near future. And with an anti-choice White House and virulently anti-choice Attorney General, providers cannot assume that they will receive the protection they require and are entitled to under federal law. Given the current political climate, it is particularly important that we increase our vigilance and work to ensure that medical professionals and their patients are safe from extremist attacks.

Abortion providers face not only violence and harassment but legislative assaults on their practices. In recent years, legislatures across the country, including Congress, have passed laws that threaten doctors with criminal penalties, including prison terms, for providing abortions. Under some legislation, providers can face criminal charges for performing some of the most common abortion procedures used throughout pregnancy. Other laws force doctors and clinics to comply with onerous physical plant requirements; to offer state-mandated and -scripted counseling to their patients; and to delay their patients' abortions in accordance with waiting-period laws. Providers must spend increasing time and resources complying with or challenging these laws in court.

Violence, harassment, and legislative interference are part of a broad anti-choice campaign designed to eliminate women's access to abortion by, in part, deterring doctors from becoming abortion providers. Unfortunately, in 86% of all the counties in the U.S. women already cannot obtain an abortion.

Without providers, women have no choice. Therefore, we salute the courage and compassion of doctors and clinic workers who continue to offer abortions. We stand in awe of their determination to offer this essential medical service even in the face of violence and unrelenting harassment at many levels.

We encourage you to express your thanks to your local providers and their staff, by offering them this Personal Thank You that they can display in their waiting rooms and offices. We urge those who care about the right to choose to take this opportunity to recognize the people who make that right a reality.

At the forefront of the struggle for reproductive rights since its inception in 1920, the ACLU is the only pro-choice legal organization with a presence in all 50 states. In 1974, it founded the Reproductive Freedom Project to coordinate the legal, legislative, and public defense of the endangered rights secured by Roe v. Wade. Today, we renew our commitment to protecting a woman's fundamental right to choose -- and access -- abortion.