Women Should Have The Right To Choose: Speech From Senator Eva Birch

We listen to and discuss an emotional speech earlier this week from Senator Eva Birch, describing her recent personal experience with a miscarriage and Arizona's 'cruel' laws.

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Episode Transcript

(00:11):
Face Palm America. I'm Babel Francklin. Facepalmamerica dot com is where you can
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(00:33):
Palm America on Facebook. You canalso give us a call or send us
a message at to zero two sixfive six six two seven to one.
I was watching the TV today andI saw a clip of a speech that
really moved me, and I hadto talk about it. It was an
Arizona lawmaker and she was talking abouthaving to have an abortion. She was

(00:54):
talking on the floor of the ArizonaState Senate, and she was talking about
why she had to get an abortionand what she had to go through in
that state to get an abortion.And I think it says a lot about
women's reproductive rights in this country andthe very dangerous and threatened state that they're
in right now in much of America. And so yeah, I'm going to

(01:18):
come and I'm going to talk aboutit afterwards, but I basically just want
you to hear this. I wantyou to listen. This is from earlier
this week that she gave this speech, and I think it's important to hear
because the situations around abortion aren't alwaysthe way that they're portrayed by the far
right, and I think you needto listen to how it impacts people,
even people who are very privileged andvery lucky and have resources. A lot

(01:42):
of you already know this. Alot of you have been through this,
so you haven't maybe some of younever like thought about it much, and
I want you to think about it. So here after the break is the
speech given by Arizona State Senator EvaBirch. Give it a listen, and
then we'll come back and talk aboutit. On the other side, I'm
bagebel Fracklins's face, Palm America.I rise today because I think it's important

(02:09):
to acknowledge how this body has impactedmy family and our journey, along with
many others who are just like me. I don't know how many of you
know this, but a few weeksago I learned that, against all odds,
I am pregnant. Many of youknow that I've had kind of a
rough journey with fertility. I hadmy first miscarriage more than thirteen years ago,

(02:31):
and I have been pregnant many timessince then. Twice I was lucky
enough to successfully carry to term,and I have two beautiful, healthy little
boys. But two years ago,while I was campaigning for this Senate seat,
I became pregnant with what we laterdetermined was a non viable pregnancy.
It was a pregnancy that we hadbeen trying for, and we were heartbroken

(02:53):
over it. But now I wishI could tell you otherwise. But after
numerous ultrasounds and blood draws, wehave determined that my pregnancy is once again
not progressing and is not viable,and once again, I have scheduled an
appointment to terminate my pregnancy. Idon't think people should have to justify their

(03:15):
abortions, but I'm choosing to talkabout why I made this decision because I
want us to be able to havemeaningful conversations about the reality of how the
work that we do in this bodyimpacts people in the real world. For
the last twelve years, I haveworked both as an er nurse and a
nurse practitioner in a women's health clinic, and that experience informs the understanding that

(03:36):
I have of my situation. Pregnancyintended or otherwise increase your risk for just
about every health problem that a personcan have, and that includes diabetes and
high blood pressure and blood clots,anxiety, depression, arrhythmias, a schemic
stroke, and I could go on. Pregnancy is not a health neutral condition.

(03:57):
Certainly, pregnancy carries more risk abortion, which is a very low risk
procedure. And I say this notto try to discourage people from pregnancy.
I'm so glad that I accepted thoserisks and carried my children. I just
recognize them because I think we haveto be honest about the balance of risk
and reward and why abortion can oftenbe the right health care choice. I
don't know how many of you havebeen unfortunate enough to experience a miscarriage before,

(04:21):
but I am not interested in goingthrough it unnecessarily and right now,
the safest and most appropriate treatment forme, and the treatment that I choose
is abortion. But the laws thatthis legislature has passed has interfered with my
ability to do that, along withcountless others. And I want to explain
what I mean and why I'm stillpregnant as I address all of you today.

(04:43):
Despite having known about the unavoidable demiseof my pregnancy, and despite having
been to the abortion clinic on Friday, where they were equipped and prepared to
perform my abortion. First, Iwas required to have another ultrasound at the
abortion clinic, as all patients seekingabortion are required to do an arizona an
ultrasound that I absolutely did not needto have. I didn't have an ultrasound

(05:05):
because my doctor thought I needed one. I had one because legislation has forced
me to do that, an invasivetransvaginal ultrasound that I didn't want or have
performed by someone who didn't want tohave to do it. I am safe
and loved and protected in my marriage, but I cannot imagine how inappropriate that

(05:26):
would be for a victim of sexualassault, or for someone who has an
abusive or coercive relationship with their partner. Another unwanted vaginal penetration, but this
time by the state, by thepeople who are commissioned to protect us.
Then I got to sit through anexhaustive list of absolute disinformation that was read
off to me. I was toldthat there were alternatives to abortion, parenting

(05:49):
or adoption, among them, asif delivering a healthy baby is an option
for me, it is not.My medical provider was forced to tell me
multiple things that don't apply to mysituation, and some that are just transparently
factually false. And they do thisbecause of laws passed by this legislature in
opposition to medical expert testimony and advicefrom where I sat. The only reason

(06:15):
I had to hear those things wasin a cruel and really uninformed attempt by
outside forces to shame and coerce andfrighten me into making a different decision other
than the one that I knew wasright for me. There's no one size
fits all script for people seeking abortioncare, and the legislature doesn't have any
right to assign one. I'm aperfect example of why this relationship should be

(06:38):
between patients and providers. All thatthe legislature has done is to nurture distrust
and confusion in the relationship between patientsand providers for people who are vulnerable enough,
it's not the job of the medicalprovider to try to talk a patient
out of a decision that they feelcomfortable with. Providers want patients to be
informed, but not coerced. Atno point in either of my experiences at

(07:01):
abortion clinics, that I feel pressurefrom the provider to get an abortion.
I felt compassion and kindness and empathyand understanding. The only guilt that I
felt was for the providers, whowas forced to say things that they shouldn't
have to say because of us.After the mandatory ultrasound and the mandatory disinformation,
I'm then going to have to waitat least another twenty four hours after

(07:25):
my appointment before I can have aprocedure. The last time that I had
an abortion, I started to miscarrythe night before it was scheduled to take
place, and I was denied aprocedure in the hospital because I was deemed
not critical enough in spite of thefact that my embryo had died and that
my miscarriage had stalled, which leftme with retain products of conception. The

(07:46):
clauses for emergencies aren't good enough.These laws can serve to intimidate doctors,
and it muddies the waters when they'retrying to make complex decisions in situations that
are really volatile. I had beenbleeding and passing q closs for hours,
but I wasn't bleeding out and Iwas still pregnant, so I was offered
medication to make me start bleeding again, and told that I could have a

(08:07):
procedure when I had bled enough.A waiting period is often totally inappropriate and
potentially dangerous. Doctors and patients shouldbe making those determinations, not legislators who
don't have to suffer through the consequencesthemselves. The next day, I went
to the abortion clinic, where Iwas able to get the care that I
needed, and two weeks later abortionsshut. Clinics shut down in the wake

(08:31):
of ROW, and I wouldn't havebeen able to get my procedure. Arizonans
really agree that decisions should be betweenproviders and patients and that the legislatures should
stay out of it. We knowwhat happens to patients who seek abortion for
any reason and aren't able to getone. We have lots of data on
the subject, and notably doctor Foster'sturn Away study, But there's others.

(08:54):
Those individuals who are denied abortion aremore likely to be victims of domestic violence,
more likely to be evicted, morelikely to file for bankruptcy, and
their living children are more likely tohave developmental delays, They have more long
term health consequences, and they're lesslikely to be able to afford the basic
needs for their households. That's ashort and incomplete list of the poor outcomes

(09:16):
that families face when their choices aretaken away from them. Generally speaking,
people seek abortion for the same reasonthat I did. I'm choosing abortion because
I'm pregnant, and for reasons Ishould not have to explain to you,
or to the church, or tothe State of Arizona. I need to
not be pregnant anymore. That's thebest outcome for me. And I understand

(09:41):
that there are a lot of sensitivefeelings surrounding pregnancy, and that there are
philosophical questions that people cannot agree on. The leaders and experts have been talking
about those things for years in thiscountry. And if doctors and political leaders
and advocacy organizations, religious organizations,and faith groups and scientists have not been

(10:01):
able to come to any consensus aboutthe answers to these complicated questions, then
I think we can all agree thatthe right people for that job are not
here in the Arizona legislature. Arizonansdeserve the freedom and the liberty to make
those decisions for themselves. I willnever try to force someone to have an
abortion. Nobody should ever tried toprevent me from having mine. My experiences

(10:28):
in this space, both as aprovider and as a patient, have led
me to believe that this legislature hasfailed the people of Arizona in the laws
that restrict and dictate abortion, andin the resources that it cuts and strangles
and denies at every opportunity. I'mreally grateful that I am privileged to be
able to make the right decision formyself and my family. I caught my

(10:50):
pregnancy early, I can afford allthose doctor visits, I can take time
off work when I need to.But I call in this legislative balley to
pass laws that make sure every ArizonaArizona has the opportunity to make decisions that
are right for them. Our decisionmaking should be grounded in expert testimony and
in consensus from both the medical communityand from constituents, and free from political

(11:16):
posturing and partisan bias. But that'snot what I see happening. So I
truly hope that Arizonas have the opportunityto weigh in on abortion on the ballot
in November. We know that themajority of Arizonas support the right to abortion.
And if we can't operate in thatreality in this chamber, then it
is critical that everyone have the opportunityfor their voices to be heard elsewhere.

(11:39):
I stand with those who have hadto grapple with and navigate Arizona's restrictive laws
surrounding abortion in a time when thedecisions being made were complicated enough. I'm
with them, I appreciate them,I am them. Thank you for listening
to me today. That's all Ihave to say. Thank you, Face

(12:07):
Palm, America. I'm Beowulf Rockland. And that was Eva Birch, Arizona
State Senator. Yeah, when shelearned that her pregnancy was not progressing,
she decided to have an abortion.And again she's a Democratic state senator in
Arizona, and she decided to talkabout it. She was still pregnant when
she spoke in that speech earlier thisweek. She's believed to be the first

(12:31):
pregnant state lawmaker to go into thatkind of detail about her plans to get
an abortion. Since rovers is wagedhas been overturned. Now, Arizona bans
abortion after fifteen weeks, without exceptionsfor rapor incest. Birch was well below
that limit. But still she saidshe had to overcome all the obstacles that

(12:54):
she outlined a transvaginal ultrasound, asshe described there, which is so invasive,
and the provider had to read ora statement about alternatives to abortion which
didn't apply to her because her vetuswasn't viable. And it's just completely fucking
ridiculous. Abortion rights supporters in Arizonaare now in the process of gathering signatures

(13:18):
or a ballot measure that would enshrineabortion rights in the state constitution. That's
something that at any time in thecourse of the last fifty years before Roe
was overturned, that the Democrats couldhave done, could have moved forward with,
but they didn't. Shame on them, Shame on them. Shame on
them for not doing that. Theybasically held it out there for that whole
time, like saying, oh,you better vote for us or the Republicans

(13:41):
are going to overturn it. Andthen the Republicans overturned it, and now
they're still fundraising about that issue.I don't know if they're going to take
any action about it if they maintainpower, but they're still using as an
issue and I'm not and you know, I hope they do something about it.
They damn well better do something aboutit. Either them or somebody else
needs to be in there that will. And shame on the Republicans for trying

(14:05):
to control women and removing their reproductiverights. Shame on them. And as
we've discussed many times, this isnot about life or children. This is
about controlling women because they don't careabout the child after it's born. They
don't care about protecting it. Theycare about making things difficult and inconvenient and
circumscribing women, hemming them in makingthings difficult for them ultimately so they can

(14:26):
provide more labor, frankly free labor. And so I hope you listen to
that. I hope you got somethingfrom it. I wanted to make sure
that you heard it. It's anotherreason not to vote for Republicans or anybody
who opposes your reproductive rights. Comefall anyway, listen to it, spread
it around, make sure other peoplehear this. I saw a clip of

(14:46):
it which was moving on TV andI wanted to play the full version.
So thank you to Ace Elson andRosabel Hine, who produced this show.
Go to two Squared Media Productions tofind out more and do Share this with
a friend. It helps grow ouraudience until next time. Enjoy the day,