2012 Rashbaum-Tiller Abortion Provider Awards

The Rashbaum-Tiller Abortion Provider Awards honor two physicians who provide outstanding abortion services, one for career-long service and one for serving as an inspiration and advocate early in her career, especially in the face of adversity. This year, PRCH honored Linda Prine, MD, recipient of the William K. Rashbaum, MD, Abortion Provider Award, and Margaret Kini, MD, recipient of the George Tiller, MD, Abortion Provider Award. Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Linda Greenhouse gave the keynote address. The 2012 Rashbaum-Tiller Awards were held on June 4 in New York City.

About the Awards

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. Dr. Rashbaum (1926-2005) was a cofounder of PRCH, a gifted obstetrician and gynecologist, a respected teacher, and a passionate advocate for women’s rights.

The George Tiller, MD, Abortion Provider Award recognizes a physician early in his or her career who provides abortions while demonstrating leadership and courage. Dr. Tiller (1941-2009) was a family physician who provided abortions for more than 30 years, specializing in later procedures. Despite continual harassment and violence, he advocated tirelessly for the women he served. A former PRCH board member, Dr. Tiller mentored colleagues from around the country.

About This Year's Award Winners

Rashbaum Abortion Provider Award Recipient: Linda Prine, MD

Dr. Linda Prine has devoted herself to providing and teaching patient-centered medical care and teaching the next generation of family physicians to provide abortions. She is a founder and the medical director of the Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP), a nonprofit dedicated to integrating reproductive health services into primary care. She founded the national Access Listserv, and leads RHAP’s Family Medicine Reproductive Health Network. Dr. Prine serves as faculty at Beth Israel’s Residency Program in Urban Family Practice and directs the Falencki Fellowship in Reproductive Health Care and Advocacy, and also works and teaches at Planned Parenthood New York City. In 2011, Dr. Prine was named Director of Women’s Health at the Institute for Family Health, where she oversees women's health care at 17 health centers in southern New York State.

Tiller Abortion Provider Award Recipient: Margaret Kini, MD

Dr. Margaret Kini is a family physician practicing in Austin, Texas. She trained at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, serving predominantly low-income immigrants outside Boston. She cofounded an obstetric and women’s health fellowship, which included abortion training, in Rochester, NY. Dr. Kini moved to Austin where she joined the University of Texas Southwestern Austin Family Medicine Residency in 2009. She also works at Whole Woman’s Health, providing comprehensive family planning, including medical and surgical abortion. The transition from the northeast to practicing full-spectrum family medicine in Texas has been challenging and enlightening. Despite new Texas legislative restrictions, she remains passionate about her work as a primary care provider. She has expanded reproductive health training in the Austin residency program, providing patient-centered family planning at Whole Woman’s Health.

About the Keynote Speaker

Linda Greenhouse is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She covered the Supreme Court for the New York Times between 1978 and 2008, and writes a biweekly column on law for their online edition. Ms. Greenhouse has received the Pulitzer Prize (1998), and the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from Harvard University’s Kennedy School (2004). In 2002, the American Political Science Association gave her its Carey McWilliams Award for “a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics.” Her biography of Justice Harry A. Blackmun, Becoming Justice Blackmun, was published in 2005. Her book Before Roe v. Wade: Voices That Shaped the Abortion Debate Before the Supreme Court's Ruling (with Reva B. Siegel), was published in 2010. Her latest book, The U.S. Supreme Court: A Very Short Introduction, was published by Oxford University Press in March. Ms. Greenhouse is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is one of two non-lawyer honorary members of the American Law Institute, which in 2002 awarded her its Henry J. Friendly Medal. She is a member of the Council of the American Philosophical Society, which in 2005 awarded her its Henry Allen Moe Prize for writing in the humanities and jurisprudence. She was elected in 2009 to the Harvard University Board of Overseers. She was a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar for two years, and is currently a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Senate. She has been awarded nine honorary degrees, and is a 1968 graduate of Radcliffe College, and earned a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School (1978), which she attended on a Ford Foundation fellowship.