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On the floor of the Arizona state Senate on Monday, Sen. Eva Burch announced that she was getting an abortion for a nonviable pregnancy.
Flanked by a number of Democratic state senators, Burch spoke in detail about the how the laws passed by her colleagues had "interfered" with her ability to terminate her pregnancy.
"I want to explain what I mean and why I’m still pregnant as I address all of you today, despite having known about the unavoidable demise of my pregnancy and despite having been to the abortion clinic on Friday, where they were equipped and prepared to perform my abortion,” she said.
Arizona has a 15-week abortion ban on the books, along with a host of restrictive laws that force patients to jump through significant hoops to terminate their pregnancy, as Burch did.
She said she was made to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound at the abortion clinic, to sit through in-person counseling during which a doctor was legally bound to read medically unnecessary and inaccurate information to her about abortions, and to wait 24 hours after that to obtain the procedure.
Burch gave her colleagues personal insight into the consequences of the restrictive abortion laws that most of them have supported. Yet while she was talking, most of the Republican lawmakers in the chamber stood up and left. As The Arizona Mirror reported:
Several Republicans left during Burch’s comments, she told the Arizona Mirror. Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli was among them: He left as Burch was speaking, returning briefly from the adjacent member’s lounge in an apparent mistake while she was still speaking before quickly exiting again. As soon as she finished speaking, the Republican from Lake Havasu City returned so he could make a motion to adjourn the daily floor session.
A sole Republican, Prescott Sen. Ken Bennett, remained on the floor while Burch spoke. When she was done, he walked over to her, expressed his sympathy for her situation and gave her a hug.
While recounting her experience, Burch said she had been luckier than some other Arizonans: She detected her pregnancy early and had the time and financial means to make multiple doctor’s visits.
“I don’t think people should have to justify their abortions, but I’m choosing to talk about why I made this decision because I want us to have meaningful conversations about the reality of how the work that we do in this body impacts people in the real world,” she said.