Arizona Lawmaker Shares On State Senate Floor Why She Plans To Get An Abortion

An Arizona lawmaker shared that she plans to get an abortion during a powerful speech she gave on the state Senate floor Monday afternoon.

State Sen. Eva Burch (D) stood at the end of Monday’s session to make a point of personal privilege, a right afforded to Arizona lawmakers when they would like to make a personal remark. Burch, who for the last 12 years has worked as an emergency room nurse and nurse practitioner at a women’s health clinic, shared that a few weeks ago she and her husband found out she was pregnant. Burch described how she’s had “a rough journey with fertility,” miscarrying many times, and recalled how she got an abortion two weeks before Roe v. Wade fell in 2022 due to a nonviable diagnosis of a wanted pregnancy.

“We have determined that my pregnancy is once again not progressing and is not viable, and once again I have scheduled an appointment to terminate my pregnancy,” Burch told her colleagues on the Senate floor, with a handful of her female colleagues standing behind her in support.

“I don’t think people should have to justify their abortions,” she said. “But I’m choosing to talk about why I made this decision because I want us to be able to have meaningful conversations about the reality of how the work that we do in this body impacts people in the real world.”

Watch part of Burch’s speech below.

Abortion is currently banned in Arizona after 15 weeks. Burch did not specify how far along she is, but she is still getting care in-state, so she must be less than 15 weeks pregnant.

Arizona has long implemented other restrictions that bar access to care, including a 24-hour waiting period before a patient can get an abortion, undergoing an ultrasound and listening to state-mandated information