The Quickie: Arizona State Senator Shares Her Abortion Story to Shed light on State's Ban

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: Arizona Senator shares her abortion story, Biden signs an executive order to advance women’s health research, and how supporting healthy workforces leads to business growth.

ARIZONA STATE SENATOR SHARES HER ABORTION STORY TO SHED LIGHT ON STATE’S BAN: Yesterday, Arizona Sen. Eva Burch shared her abortion story on the Senate floor, urging her colleagues to pass laws that ensure that Arizonans can make the right health care decision for themselves. In her speech, Sen. Burch shares that she received the devastating news that she had no chance of carrying her pregnancy to term — something she is unfortunately familiar with after having struggled with fertility issues for years — and had decided to have an abortion. 

In her remarks, Sen. Burch detailed how Arizona’s restrictive abortion laws, supported by some of her fellow legislators, affected her. Not only did Sen. Burch face medically unnecessary regulations, but her provider was required to give her blatant disinformation. Her experience is a perfect example of why health care decisions should be made between a patient and doctor, without interference from politicians. 

Dr. Jill Gibson, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said in a statement, “I commend Senator Eva Burch for sharing her abortion story before the legislature today, fiercely and free of shame, and illuminating the experiences of all Arizonans trying to access abortion services. Every time patients and providers share their abortion stories we reduce stigma and increase awareness and recognition that abortion is simply health care.” 

Read more in the Daily Beast and CNN.

 

BIDEN SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO ADVANCE RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE: Yesterday, President Biden signed an executive order calling for a $12 billion investment into transformative research to reimagine health care for women across the U.S. The announcement included the creation of a $200 million NIH-wide Fund on Women's Health. With women representing more than half of the U.S. population, Biden noted that they are often underrepresented, with this investment showing the commitment to fundamentally change the approach to womens’ health. From underlying causes that lead to cardiovascular diseases to menopause-related conditions, the investment aims to galvanize new research on women’s midlife health. This effort is part of the inaugural White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

 

HOW SUPPORTING INCLUSIVE HEALTHY WORKFORCES LEADS TO BUSINESS GROWTH: In a recent article published in As You Sow’s 20th anniversary Proxy Preview report, Planned Parenthood’s Director of Corporate Engagement Nadia Khamis highlighted a Planned Parenthood shareholder proposal that asks a leading U.S. retail company to identify and analyze risks related to its political spending misalignment, given the company’s mission, brand values, and sustainability strategy. 

Reproductive health care is the leading issue that U.S. companies are being asked to address by investors in 2024. And as Khamis points out, health care bans harm companies, preventing their employees and suppliers from participating as productively and equally in the workforce.  The stats are clear: “One in four women will have an abortion in their lifetime; [and]….Pregnant women in states with abortion bans are up to three times more at risk of death.” 

Planned Parenthood was one of 30 authors selected to highlight the leading trends among more than 520 shareholder proposals facing U.S. publicly traded companies this year. The Proxy Preview report provides detailed analysis from experts on a range of topics and issues facing shareholders, including reproductive rights, climate change, racial justice, human rights, artificial intelligence, and more.

Read more here