PHOENIX — A Tucson Republican legislator who has been a vocal opponent of legal abortion is drawing attention again with her suggestion that women who want to terminate a pregnancy should first be required to watch the procedure on someone else.
The comment by Rep. Terri Proud came in response to an e-mail earlier this month from Adena Lees. She was urging Proud to oppose a measure that would ban all abortions after 20 weeks.
That measure was tacked on to HB 2036 in the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is set for Senate debate today (eds: thursday) and eventually would have to go to the House which has never considered the language.
Lees told Proud she was concerned with the lack of any exceptions for women who find they are carrying a child with “fetal anomalies.’’
“This bill is an unbelievably cruel attempt to block access to care for women and families facing tragic situations,’’ the e-mail reads.
Proud responded two days later saying that, if it were up to her, the measure would go further.
“Personally I’d like to make a law that mandates a woman watch an abortion being performed prior to having a ‘surgical procedure,’ ‘’ she wrote. “If it’s not a life it shouldn’t matter, if it doesn’t harm a woman then she shouldn’t care.’’
Proud took a strong stance earlier this month in favor of legislation to prohibit any state-administered federal grants from being given to any organization that also performs abortion.
Federal and state law already precludes public funds from being used to terminate a pregnancy. Proud said she wanted to be sure that organizations like Planned Parenthood were not using their federal money for family planning to free up other dollars to perform abortions, something she said would amount to indirect public funding.
“Until the dead child can tell me that it didn’t want to live, I have no intention of clearing the conscience of the living,’’ she said during floor debate.
Proud repeated that theme in her e-mail to Lees, writing, “Until the dead child can tell me that she/he does not feel any pain -- I have no intentions of clearing the conscience of the living -- I will be voting YES.’’
In a response to Proud a day later, Lees said she was “speechless’’ and called the lawmaker’s e-mail to a constituent “unacceptable, unprofessional and unethical.’’
“To live in this state and have a representative who believes and behaves the way you do is embarrassing and frightening,’’ Lees wrote.
Proud declined repeated requests by Capitol Media Services for an interview. Instead, she issued a formal statement saying her response to Lees “emphasized my concerns with how abortion providers have not been honest with women about the realities of abortion, and the short and long-term risks of this dangerous surgical procedure.’’
And she noted that the Legislature already has required women who want to terminate a pregnancy to have an ultrasound and be given “the opportunity to view the picture of her child before an abortion.’’
Proud was more blunt in a Facebook post.
“I always try to answer every e-mail that I receive -- friendly or hostile,’’ she wrote.
“I don’t apologize for e-mails I state are my personal opinion,’’ Proud continued. “I may not be cut out to be a politician, but I am cut out to be a Representative.’’
“Representative of who and representative of what?’’ Lees told Capitol Media Services after reading Proud’s Facebook post.
Lees, a licensed clinical social worker in private practice, said her political activism is limited to signing up for alerts from various organizations and, when appropriate, sending an e-mail out to a state or federal official. She said that usually generates a “benign’’ response.
“I know it’s a form letter,’’ Lees said of what she gets back.
“But it’s respectful,’’ she continued. “This was so not respectful, so angry, so violating to me personally.’’
In her Facebook post, Proud suggested she might have been set up.
“It’s sad that the Left like to play ‘I gotcha’ games through e-mails,’’ she wrote. Proud said that’s why some legislators do not respond to such messages “for fear it’s just another ‘gotcha’ moment.’ ‘’
Lees acknowledged she did not vote for Proud. But she said she is not an activist, with her political involvement limited to her e-mails.
“I don’t protest, I don’t go outside and do stuff like that,’’ Lees said. “But I do it from my home.’’
Lees said, though, she does have strong feelings about abortion rights.
“I am very much for women being in charge of their own bodies, not having other people tell them what to do with their bodies,’’ she said.
Lees said she understands there are many sides to the issue. But she said that she had to speak out -- even by e-mail -- when legislation fails to consider that there are reasons like rape, incest or fetal defects that may result in a woman choosing not to carry a child to term.
“That’s what puts me over the edge,’’ she said.
mvccd1000 posted at 9:00 am on Thu, Mar 22, 2012.
These control freaks are scary. I'll bet the good "representative" didn't espouse such views while she was campaigning, or she'd probably not be in office.
Joni posted at 9:36 am on Thu, Mar 22, 2012.
Should a woman considering an abortion, watch the process first? Absolutely.
Having an abortion, an elective procedure, is a rather important decision to make. Any information, including a video, would be extremely helpful for women to make the right decision for themselves. There may be people thinking that it would deter some women from choosing to abort because of guilt. Those who would feel guilt, will feel it regardless of whether or not they watch a video. You can't stop that by keeping them from being informed. Those who feel no guilt after an abortion, will more than likely still feel no guilt after watching a video of an abortion. When it comes to any other procedure that a woman might have done to her body, I'm willing to bet that some of the folks who have objections (requiring a video prior to aborting) would encourage women to "Educate" themselves before going under the knife or in this case, the vacuum. Peace. And may you be "encouraged" and allowed to make an "informed" decision.
Mike McClellan posted at 11:09 am on Thu, Mar 22, 2012.
Joni and Rep. Proud have the right idea . . . but let's go beyond that. I'd argue that men should first watch a vasectomy -- an elective semi-permanent birth control procedure -- prior to getting one.
Men should see a video of the injection into the part the editing won't allow on this site, followed by the little incision, followed by the cutting, followed by the stitching (or in some cases, cauterizing), followed by the swelling and pain.
Great idea, Joni and Terri!
Accuracy posted at 11:59 am on Thu, Mar 22, 2012.
“Rep. Terri Proud declined repeated requests by Capitol Media Services for an interview. Instead, she issued a formal statement saying her response to Adena Lees “emphasized my concerns with how abortion providers have not been honest with women about the realities of abortion, and the short and long-term risks of this dangerous surgical procedure.’’”
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Abortion is one of the most contested issues in U.S. society, law and politics. And because of the split between federal and state law, the effective availability of abortion varies strongly by state.
Directed at the insurance coverage provided to public employees, Arizona’s law limits coverage to cases when the woman’s life or health would be threatened
Many women rely on for their health care, but many state health programs do not cover abortions, and currently only 17 states offer or require such coverage . . .
While, some 15 states are forbidding abortion coverage by any health exchange operating in their states.
DrJCA1 posted at 1:48 pm on Thu, Mar 22, 2012.
I love those of you who have never actually been involved with women who have had abortions, pontificating on a subject you know absolutely zero about. In my 4 decades of medical practice, I counseled thousands of women about their pregnancies and abortions, as well as adoption, foster care, and their health habits. Most pregnant women have their baby and keep it. Those who have it and give it away, like a holiday present, are just as guilty, or even more so, as those who've had an abortion. The big difference is that the holier-than-thous have put this guilt on abortion, while human nature provided the guilt to the others.
Abortion is never an easy choice, nor one that is made because someone is bored on a Tuesday afternoon. It is always a vey painful, emotional issue and if you so-called Christians would actually practice what you preach about unconditinal love, you might even help this very devisive issue go more for the live birth end. When you push this agenda of all or nothing, you just tick off those of us trying to be a bit more sensible about this issue. It is very obvious that the abortion debate will never end and it is also jsut as obvious that you on the far right are not the sole answer to the problem. If most Americans agreed with you, this would not be an issue and the laws would be different. For those of you who l;ike the government forcing women to watch an abortion before obtaining one, I suggest that the government force every one of you to adopt an unwanted or deformed child. I'll just bet you don't think that's a great idea because so many on the far right and left are just hypocrites. It's easy to run at the mouth, but to put "your money" where your mouth is, is another story for most of you.
andys posted at 2:00 pm on Thu, Mar 22, 2012.
I would like this bit** watch a execution and see if it scars her for life. What a sadistic idiot.
Dale Whiting posted at 5:32 pm on Thu, Mar 22, 2012.
DrJCA1,
While I respect your experience, the facts you relay, and most of your conclusions, one conclusion escapes me. You say those who adopt out their children are as guilty as those who choose an abortion. I ask you to explain "Guilty of what?' Some equate abortion to murder. Is adoption murder? I think not. Is adoption child abuse? I think not, especially where the adoptive family is well screened by professionals.
Compared to yours, my experience is extremely limited. Yet I have met many women who opted for an abortion. Few have lived without regrets. I have met a few who have adopted. Some have regretted that too. But most have not. And I have met more who have kept their child and struggled to raise it. Very few regret that. But given that they chose this course and lived with and threw it, I am not suprised.
When I comes to out of wedlock pregnancies, where a suitably mature marriage appears to not be in the cards, I and my faith favor adoption. In the one case where an adoption was prevented by the paternal grandmother, the mother finally left the child with its father. Father was abusive to mother.
Years later father regrettted that and tried to get mom to start paying child support, even trying to collect back support. That went nowhere. Finally the mother, since married with childen of her own, took her first child back in with her new siblings. The child, it mother and the half siblings flurished. This mother has nothing to regret and is guilty of nothing but making one mistake. Seeing the father intimately on an unfortuitious night.
I think I'll be keeping my opinions in tact.