Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The national trade group for abortion businesses issued a statement on Monday honoring abortion practitioners across the country. However, the National Abortion Federation ignored the significant number of abortion practitioners who lost their medical licenses for breaking the law or abusing patients.

In 1996, abortion advocates named March 10 as a day to honor abortion practitioners for killing unborn children and injuring women through abortion.

However, the celebrants of the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers have never acknowledged how these abortion practitioners frequently violate the law.

Vicki Saporta, the president of NAF, said she was proud to celebrate the day to "honor the men and women who ... make reproductive choice a reality."

'[A]bortion providers remain dedicated to protecting the lives and health of women by providing them with quality reproductive health care," Saporta said. "[T]he men and women who brave this path are truly heroes."

As LifeNews.com has reported and as pro-life nurse Jill Stanek noted in a recent editorial, abortion practitioners continue to violate the law and, in some cases, are losing medical licenses and facing jail time as a result.

In the last 12 months alone...

* Massachusetts abortion practitioner Rapin Osathanondh voluntarily surrendered his medical license after killing 22-year-old Laura Smith in a botched abortion.

* Malachy DeHenre was found guilty this January for murdering his wife after losing his medical license in Alabama, New York and Mississippi for botched abortions, rape, and death of a patient.

* Florida abortion practitioner James Pendergraft had his licensed suspended and was fined $10,000 for doing an illegal late-term abortion.

* Michigan abortion practitioner Alberto Hodari, who had previously killed two women in botched legal abortions, was caught in videotape bragging about lying to patients and families and not washing his hands between surgical abortions.

* Former Oregon Planned Parenthood abortion practitioner George Kabacy pleaded guilty in Washington state in November for engaging in and advertising child porn.

* Alabama abortion practitioner Deborah Lyn Levich let her medical license expire after being charged with letting non-physicians do abortions and other improper practices.

* California abortion practitioner Laurence Reich was charged last month for doing abortions without a valid medical license.

* Kentucky abortion practitioner Hamid Hussain Sheikh was indicted in November on Medicaid fraud charges.

"I can’t think of anything more insane than celebrating an industry that kills 1.2 million babies a year," Stanek told LifeNews.com. "Well, actually the industry being celebrated must be considered more insane."

Instead of urging states to do more to prosecute abortion practitioners who violate the law and put women's health at risk, Saporta urged abortion advocates to sign a petition honoring them.

"Please join us in supporting the men and women who dedicate their lives to providing women with quality reproductive health care by signing the National Abortion Federation's petition to show your appreciation for abortion providers," she said.