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Democrat Arizona State Senator Eva Burch has announced that she is seeking an abortion for a pregnancy she says is non-viable.
Senator Burch, 43, made the bizarre announcement while speaking in the Senate.
“The safest and most appropriate treatment for me at the moment – and the treatment I have chosen – is abortion. But the laws this legislature passed have interfered with my ability to do so,” Burch said in his speech.
Burch claimed to have had a “difficult journey with fertility” and to have been pregnant “multiple times”.
He has two surviving sons.
The lawmaker also revealed during her speech that during the Senate campaign she had undergone an abortion for a “non-viable” pregnancy.
The lawmaker explained that in order to get an abortion, she first needed an “invasive transvaginal ultrasound.”
“I am safe, loved, and protected in my marriage, but I can't imagine what it would be like for a woman who is sexually assaulted, or for someone who has an abusive or coercive relationship with their partner – a And unwanted vaginal penetration, but how inappropriate that would be this time.” The state, by the people who are appointed to protect us,” Burch said.
Abortion is prohibited after 15 weeks in Arizona.
“This legislature has failed the people of Arizona with laws that restrict and direct abortion and by cutting resources and strangling and denying abortion at every opportunity,” Burch said. “I really hope that Arizonans will have the opportunity to consider abortion on the ballot in November.”
According to a report by the Associated Press, Burch previously worked as a nurse practitioner at a women's health clinic.
Watch the full speech here: