Programs: William K. Rashbaum, MD, Abortion Provider Award

Rashbaum Award Winners

The William K. Rashbaum, MD, Abortion Provider Award honors a physician who provides outstanding abortion services and serves as an inspirational leader for colleagues, residents, and medical students.

2009: LeRoy Carhart, MD (with video from the event)
2008: Mildred Hanson, MD
2007: George Tiller, MD
2006: Shalom Press, MD

Dr. Rashbaum Remembered

William K. Rashbaum, MD, (1926-2005) was a gifted obstetrician and gynecologist, an inspirational teacher, a passionate advocate for a woman’s right to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, and a co-founder of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health.

As a young physician, Dr. Rashbaum was regularly called upon to attend to women who had been seriously injured by illegal abortions. Following the legalization of abortion, he performed abortions in New York City and trained hundreds of medical students, residents, and doctors how to do so.

Dr. Rashbaum had a reputation for speaking his mind, but his patients knew him as a gentle and compassionate man who would hold their hands during difficult times. Dr. Rashbaum died in 2005.

Dr. Rashbaum recounts his personal story as an abortion provider and PRCH founder in In His Own Words. 

We're pleased to share this video of Suzanne Poppema, MD, remembering Dr. Rashbaum at the 2009 William K. Rashbaum, MD, Abortion Provider Award Ceremony.