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This piece is part of our first-annual Health Care Heroes series, where we spotlight people doing amazing things in the health care and medical fields. Read the rest of the stories here .

THE WOMAN STANDING at the edge of the tarmac in a small city in Kentucky has her three-year-old daughter on her hip, tears shedding down her face. As she waits to board the small plane, she’s terrified about her decision: to fly, yes, but also to attend the medical appointment she knows she needs. The pilot set to take her to the only abortion clinic nearby, 200 miles away, tells her she’s in control.

It might sound like a strange comment coming from the one in the cockpit, but to Mike Bonanza it’s at the root of everything he does.…