'I feel powerful': How Arizona Sen. Eva Burch sparked national conversation about abortion

Arizona Sen. Eva Burch wanted to give the speech while she was still pregnant.

The Democratic senator from Mesa wanted the public to see who she was: A mother of two, a wife, a nurse, a state lawmaker. A woman who chose an abortion and whose story didn't fit into narratives crafted by opponents.

"Abortion care is utilized by so many people in so many different settings, for so many different reasons, and you don't get to tell us who we are," Burch said in an interview last week. "We don't fit a narrow picture or perspective."

Burch lambasted state laws on abortion during a 10-minute speech on the Senate floor in March, a moment that has garnered national attention at a time when abortion policy is in flux and access is a preeminent political issue. She decried as "cruel" Arizona laws that required her to get an ultrasound, and being told adoption was an option — for a pregnancy that her doctor confirmed was not viable.

Burch, 44, is an Arizona native serving her first two-year term in the state Senate and seeking re-election this year. She is an outspoken champion for reproductive rights who said advocating for vulnerable patient populations drove her interest in politics.

She has had a difficult time with pregnancy, including a previous miscarriage and one prior abortion after she had begun to miscarry. When she found out earlier this year that she was pregnant again, but the fetus was not viable, she made what has since been lauded by advocates as a brave and courageous decision.

Arizona laws — written by Republicans throughout recent decades — controlled most of what happened after Burch's decision to terminate her pregnancy.

But she took control by talking about it.

"When I'm giving that speech, I am scared," Burch said. "I am shaking. I am hyperventilating. I'm clearly afraid in that moment.

"But I don't feel afraid anymore. I feel brave. I feel powerful."

'It looks like this'

Burch found out she was pregnant by taking a test at her job at an opioid use disorder clinic. Her past experiences prompted pessimism.

She has two sons from a previous relationship who are 10 and 12. She and her husband of six years tried to have a child of their own.

This pregnancy was a surprise. "Pervasive hope," as she calls it, snuck in.

But she and her husband learned this pregnancy was not viable, either. And so for a second time, Burch sought an abortion. But she also used her position to push for change — and that's how she ended up giving a deeply personal speech from inside the state Senate.

"I committed to the idea of bringing people along with me, through this experience," she said. "I wanted people to be able to see what it looks like. I wanted to make it real and take away some of that abstract conceptual ideology about abortion and be able to say, 'No, it looks like this.'"

Burch sought advice from Jodi Liggett, a leading advocate on women's health issues in Arizona since the mid-1990s, about telling her story publicly. She wanted to be sure that doing so would have an impact, knowing there could be consequences including public criticism and judgment, according to Liggett.

Liggett credited Burch for reminding the nation, in a time of intense partisanship, that black-and-white positions often leave out a gray area.

"I think every single person ... willing to let us into their private situation, even though we don't deserve to look through their personal experience and judge it as they know we will, they're just amazing advocates and foot soldiers in this kind of war that we're in for some basic justice," Liggett said.

'The heroes among us'

The response was immediate and national in scope. Thousands of people reached out, with most commending her or sharing their own stories, Burch said. She squeezed local and national media interviews in between her Senate voting schedule and work at the clinic.

There was a phone call from Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who has traveled around the country speaking in support of abortion rights and keeping the issue at the forefront of Democrats' pitches to voters ahead of the November election.

"I truly believe that in moments of crisis, and we are in the midst of a health care crisis, that these moments reveal the heroes among us, and you are one of them," Harris told Burch, according to a video of the call Burch shared on social media.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a fellow Democrat who is like-minded on abortion policy, recalled debates about the issue while she was a state senator.

"I just can't imagine the level of courage it took for her to do that," Hobbs said. "And I think she did that to just really highlight the fact that one size fits all restrictions limit health care that women get — that they need — and that this is a really personal decision that the government does not belong in, at all."

'The result that I hope for'

Burch's story likely won't sway the conservative majority that controls the state Legislature, which has left bills that would amend restrictive abortion policies stalled on the starting line.

But GOP lawmakers weren't really who Burch was telling her story to that day.

She hoped speaking out would change the conversation about who abortion patients are. She wanted to mobilize people not only to vote for candidates who support abortion rights, but to get involved in reproductive rights advocacy and support an abortion access ballot measure. A coalition of groups is working to put a question on the November ballot that would protect abortion in the Arizona Constitution.

"I'm just so proud and honored to be able to help expand this conversation in a meaningful way and hopefully to result in our government more accurately representing the people of this state and of this country," Burch said. "That's the result that I want, and that's the result that I hope for. And that's what I'm going to keep pushing for, relentlessly."

Most of the 16 Republican members of the Arizona Senate weren't in the room for Burch's speech.

But Sen. Ken Bennett, a Prescott Republican, was, and he hugged Burch and expressed his sympathy for her situation. Bennett said he believes life begins at conception, but supports policies allowing certain women to get abortions up to 9 or 15 weeks.

Burch's story was a reminder that there are often individual circumstances not anticipated by the laws drafted at the state Capitol, Bennett said.

"There's tough situations that can't be contemplated, or probably aren't intended to be covered by general legislation that tries to make abortions rare or, you know, cause people to consider all their other options first," Bennett said.

'Grateful for every pain'

It has been a painful year for Burch.

Her mother, who suffered from advanced dementia, was receiving hospice care in Burch's home in late January when she died.

"I would have gotten pregnant one week after she passed, and so there was just this idea in my head that maybe it was serendipitous," Burch said. "I'm not a very superstitious person, but it's just hard to not feel that way when you lose someone who you love so much.

"And then you wonder if you're about to have another loss, you know. I just wanted to believe that it was going to be different this time."

But Burch believes the losses lead to something better. She sparked a national conversation about abortion in a critical election year. On another personal level, she said she can now better understand patients with dementia.

"I'm grateful for every pain I have faced this year," she said, adding with a laugh: "Do I want more? No."

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at [email protected] or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Eva Burch: Abortion story draws praise from Kamala Harris, Katie Hobbs