Column: Arizona Republicans Want to Throw My Doctor In Jail
Last month, I had a safe, legal abortion in Arizona. Today we are all tied up in white-knuckled knots, wondering if we’re going to start throwing doctors in jail for the care they gave me. People of America: We need to talk.
I am an Arizona state Senator. I’m also a nurse practitioner and a mother of two. My husband and I live in Mesa, where we look after my sons, our two dogs, and a very well-fed cat. Okay, fine, we have three cats.
We were not trying to get pregnant. We had two failed pregnancies in the last two years and had stopped actively trying. But I wasn’t on birth control either and the discovery that I was pregnant brought on those hope-induced giggles that you try to stifle for fear of a jinx.
One ultrasound after another, the disappointment set in. The pregnancy wasn’t viable. Again. I had a rather nasty experience with my miscarriage in 2022 and I didn’t want to go through it again. We scheduled an abortion. I felt very much at peace. For a moment, anyway.
At my first doctor’s visit with Planned Parenthood, the doctor and I discussed that my pregnancy was not viable, and I shared my bloodwork and ultrasounds with her. In spite of this, she was required to ask me why I was having an abortion. She was required to tell me that I could consider adoption or parenting instead of abortion. She was required to tell me that if I chose to continue my pregnancy, the father would be required to provide me with financial support. She was required to give me another transvaginal ultrasound. She was required to ask me if I wanted to look at it.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/eva-burch-abortion-arizona-republicans-doctor-jail-1235003985/
= new reply since forum marked as read
