Arizona lawmaker says she announced plans to get an abortion to underscore out-of-touch laws
A pregnant Arizona lawmaker who revealed in a speech in the state Senate that she's planning to get an abortion says she wanted to share with the public the practical effects of abortion restrictions passed over the years
PHOENIX (AP) — A pregnant Arizona lawmaker who revealed in a speech at the state Senate that she was planning to get an abortion says she wanted to share with her colleagues and the public the practical effects of abortion restrictions passed over the years.
Democratic Sen. Eva Burch of Mesa told fellow lawmakers in a floor speech Monday that she was going to get an abortion because her pregnancy is no longer viable. The first-term lawmaker, who previously worked as a nurse practitioner at a women’s health clinic, described a “rough journey” with fertility and recounted a miscarriage she had suffered.
Burch, 43, also criticized restrictions in Arizona as being out of touch, saying the state law requires an ultrasound that her doctor didn’t order and that she was given what she regards as disinformation about alternatives to abortion.
“It was an opportunity for me to highlight what we’re experiencing here in Arizona and how the laws that we pass in Arizona actually do impact people in practice and not just in theory,” Burch said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press in her legislative office.
