AZ lawmaker who needs an abortion slams colleagues: 'This ...

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Gov. Katie Hobbs wants to repeal the 1864 abortion act

Gov. Katie Hobbs says she wants to repeal the 1864 abortion ban in her State of the State speech on Jan. 8, 2024.

An Arizona lawmaker known for her activism on reproductive rights announced on the floor of the state Senate Monday she was preparing to have an abortion.

State Sen. Eva Burch is a first-term Democrat from west Mesa who's running for reelection. A nurse practitioner, she spoke about the decision while surrounded by fellow Democratic senators, tying her words to the state politics of abortion.

"I want us to be able to have meaningful conversation about how the reality of the work that we do in this body impacts people in the real world," she said. "This Legislature has failed the people of Arizona."

Who is Eva Burch?

Burch is a longtime Valley resident who earned nursing degrees from Grand Canyon University and Chicago’s Chamberlain University. As a registered nurse and certified nurse practitioner, she's worked in emergency rooms and women's clinics. She currently helps people with opioid disorders.

In 2017, she began organizing yearly women’s marches in Phoenix to oppose former President Donald Trump. She made reproductive health her main focus, working at a women’s clinic.

She ran for the Legislature in 2022 with a high priority on abortion rights, talking during her campaign about an abortion she'd had after medical issues with the fetus.

She won in the general election by roughly six percentage points over a Trump-endorsed Republican candidate, Robert Scantlebury, a former Mesa police officer who is anti-abortion. He told The Arizona Republic before the election that he would want to know if a woman made a "formal declaration" of rape before allowing her to get an abortion.

Why does Burch need an abortion?

Burch has two young sons, but the hopes she and her husband have shared over the years to have more children haven't worked out. Her current pregnancy is her fourth unsuccessful attempt.

Her doctor told her recently that the pregnancy was not advancing and the fetus is "nonviable," she said on the Senate floor.

Arizona's laws have "interfered" with her latest decision, she said.

She was forced to endure an "invasive" transvaginal ultrasound she didn't need and that her doctor didn't order but is required under Arizona law. Then she sat through "factually false" information read to her that are required by the law about other alternatives, even though she had no alternative, she said.

"I'm a perfect example of why this relationship should be between patients and providers," not state lawmakers, she said, adding that she hopes state voters approve the pro-choice ballot measure should it make the ballot.

What are Arizona's abortion laws?

The state has been at the forefront of the national debate on abortion since the 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to decide their own abortion policy.

The bombshell ruling led many Republicans in Arizona, including GOP legislators, to support the reinstatement of a 19th-century total ban on abortions, except to save the lives of mothers. A law signed by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022 bans abortions after 15 weeks of gestation except for those required to save a mother's life. The law contains no exception in cases of rape or incest.

The Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights nonprofit, labels the state as "very restrictive." Laws on the books include a mandatory ultrasound, a 24-hour waiting period following in-person counseling, a ban on mailed abortion pills and prohibitions on seeking abortions due to the sex, race or "genetic abnormalities" of the fetus.

But abortion law is not yet settled in Arizona. The state Supreme Court in December held oral arguments seeking clarity on which of those provisions is the governing law of the land. The court is expected to issue a ruling in the coming weeks or months.

Gov. Katie Hobbs, who's pro-choice, campaigned on the issue of abortion. Like other Democrats, she's used the issue to argue against electing Republicans. She's backed bills this year to grant abortion and contraceptive rights, none of which have advanced in the state House or Senate, where Republicans dominate by one-vote majorities. She also supports a potential ballot measure that would enshrine the right to an abortion before fetal viability, and after viability to protect a mother's physical or mental health.

Reaction to Burch's floor speech

Planned Parenthood of Arizona responded to Burch's speech soon after she made it.

“Restricting, banning, and criminalizing abortion do not reduce the need and demand for this basic health care. Yet, we have seen time and time again elected officials in Arizona try to do so, against medical research and expert guidance," the organization's medical director, Dr. Jill Gibson, said in a prepared statement.

The national Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee also touted Burch's story as a reason to "defeat alarming GOP extremism in state legislatures," saying "there are very real, and sometimes even deadly, consequences to the attacks on reproductive freedom that Republicans across the country have launched."

State Sen. Jake Hoffman of Queen Creek, the leader of the conservative Arizona Freedom Caucus, didn't return a text message about Burch's floor speech. In 2022, Hoffman fought with then-House Majority Leader Ben Toma over a last-minute proposal for a total ban on abortion.

Toma, now House Speaker, is also strongly anti-abortion.

Cathi Herrod, president of the anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy, didn't return a message, either.

Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.