Ari­zona Demo­c­rat plans to get abor­tion as repro­duc­tive care comes front and cen­ter in swing state

An Ari­zona Demo­c­ra­t­ic law­mak­er announced her plans to get an abor­tion on Tues­day as repro­duc­tive care remains a sig­nif­i­cant top­ic for vot­ers in the Grand Canyon State and across the nation.
In a speech on the state Sen­ate floor, state Sen. Eva Burch announced that her preg­nan­cy had become unvi­able, so she had sched­uled an abor­tion.

Ari­zona state Sen. Eva Burch, D‑Phoenix, paus­es before answer­ing a ques­tion as she talks about her deci­sion to have an abor­tion, March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

“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.”
Burch com­plained that state laws have “inter­fered” with the process and that she was offered “fac­tu­al­ly false” infor­ma­tion about alter­na­tives.
“I’m a per­fect exam­ple of why this rela­tion­ship should be between patients and providers,” not state law­mak­ers,” she said. “My expe­ri­ences in this space, both as a provider and as a patient, have led me to believe that this leg­is­la­ture has failed the peo­ple of Ari­zona.”
Abor­tion, which is legal in Ari­zona up to 15 weeks, is set to play a major role in the state’s 2024 elec­tions — the state is an impor­tant swing state in the pres­i­den­tial race and an impor­tant Sen­ate seat up for grabs, like­ly between Repub­li­can Kari Lake and Demo­c­rat Ruben Gal­lego. Gal­lego has posi­tioned him­self as a cham­pi­on for abor­tion access, while Lake has called abor­tion “the ulti­mate sin.”
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“At a time when GOP extrem­ists are push­ing abor­tion bans every chance they get, I promise to be an unwa­ver­ing defend­er of repro­duc­tive rights in the U.S. Sen­ate,” Gal­lego said in a state­ment last fall. “Your pri­vate health care deci­sions are yours and yours alone — and I’ll nev­er back down from the politi­cians who try to take that right away.”
Pres­i­dent Joe Biden has also posi­tioned him­self as a cham­pi­on of abor­tion, while for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump has pre­ferred to avoid tak­ing a hard stance either way.

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