PHOENIX (AP) – A pregnant Arizona lawmaker who revealed her plans to have an abortion during a speech in the state Senate said she wanted to share with her colleagues and the public the practical impact of years of abortion restrictions. Ta.
Sen. Eva Birch, D-Mesa, told her colleagues in a floor speech on Monday that she was no longer pregnant and planned to terminate the pregnancy. The first-term lawmaker, who previously worked as a nurse at a women's clinic, spoke about her “grueling journey” through infertility treatment, and she also spoke about a miscarriage she experienced.
Burch, 43, also criticized Arizona's regulations as being out of place, saying state law requires ultrasounds that are not ordered by a doctor and what she sees as disinformation about abortion alternatives. She said it was given to her.
“For me, it was an opportunity to highlight what we are experiencing here in Arizona and how the laws that have been passed in Arizona are impacting people not just in theory but in practice,” Birch said. he said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. her legislative branch;
The abortion Birch is planning is not her first. She said Birch was running for president in 2022 and that she had an abortion because she was unable to conceive, and that she even had an abortion while on the campaign trail. Ta.
Birch, who previously gave birth to two sons, said she understands why women who have abortions keep that information private. But she said she wants the public to know that the hardships she experienced are common.
Burch, who is running for re-election this year, acknowledged he wanted to shine a light on the issue. Proposed Ballot Measure That would create a constitutional right to abortion.
“If the Arizona Legislature isn't really going to work, then Arizonans need to have the opportunity to take control of some of those decisions themselves,” Birch said.
Two abortion bills proposed by Democrats this year have yet to receive a committee hearing, including one that would repeal a pre-state law that criminalized nearly all abortions.
The Arizona Supreme Court has Considering fate of the Act of 1864. In a 2022 ruling, a lower court concluded that doctors who perform abortions within the first 15 weeks of pregnancy cannot be prosecuted because other Arizona laws over the years have allowed abortions.
Separate from efforts in the Arizona Legislature, abortion rights groups launched an effort last summer to ask voters to create a constitutional right to abortion. If supporters gather enough signatures, Arizona would become the latest state to ask voters directly.
The proposed constitutional amendment would guarantee the right to abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, usually around the 24th week of pregnancy. It would also allow subsequent abortions to save the mother's life or protect her physical or mental health.
The initiative's organizers need to collect 384,000 signatures from registered voters by July to put the question on the November ballot.
