Jessica Yellin Instagram – AZ STATE SEN ANNOUNCES ABORTION PLANS Arizona State Senator Eva Burch is a registered nurse and a mother to two boys. She says she is also pregnant with a nonviable pregnancy, not for the first time. She got up in front of her fellow Arizona lawmakers to share her story — including her plans to abort her current pregnancy. Burch, who worked for years as a nurse in women’s health clinics, said she thinks Arizona’s abortion laws “shame” women. AZ bans abortion at 15 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. Before the 15-week mark, by law pregnant people must undergo a transvaginal ultrasound, hear a list of “alternatives” to abortion (even when the pregnancy is nonviable), and wait 24 hours before getting an abortion. Burch called these requirements “cruel.” Burch also told a story about prior challenges accessing abortion care in 2022, before Roe was overturned. She said she began to miscarry a pregnancy she had wanted, and despite the miscarriage hospitals wouldn’t perform her abortion earlier than scheduled because she “wasn’t bleeding out.” She was able to get an abortion at a clinic the following day. Just 2 weeks later, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. Burch says she’s sharing her stories now not to justify her choices but to raise awareness of the impact laws have on real people. What do you think of her choice to share her story? Would you like to hear more lawmakers stories around their own pregnancies?