Over the last few weeks, a few websites have been posting an email response -- purportedly from Republican state Representative Terri Proud -- responding to concerns over Arizona's "fetal pain" bill.
Proud's response to these people is that Arizona's abortion laws don't go far enough.
"Personally I'd like to make a law that mandates a woman watch an abortion being performed prior to having a 'surgical procedure,'" the emails say. "If it's not a life it shouldn't matter, if it doesn't harm a woman then she shouldn't care, and don't we want more transparency and education in the medical profession anyway? We demand it everywhere else."
It's probably safe to say not everyone wants to watch videos of medical procedures before having them done. Sufferers of extreme constipation might not want to see a video of a manual disimpaction before getting that fixed.
Proud's email also includes one of her often-used sayings, 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."
Proud apparently used a copy/paste job to get this same email to several people, and according to one email thread, Proud was responding to an email campaign by NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona, which stated the following:
Dear Representative Proud,
I am asking you to vote against H.B.2036 in the Arizona Senate.
This legislation is harmful to women across Arizona. H.B.2036 bans abortion at 20 weeks, and has no exception for women who receive a diagnosis of fetal anomalies.
The reality is that, while many women can look forward to a safe childbirth, for some, pregnancy can be dangerous, and this bill is harmful to those women. This bill is an unbelievably cruel attempt to block access to care for women and families facing tragic situations.
Banning abortion without adequate exceptions and subjecting Arizonans to new health-care restrictions is out of touch with our values and priorities. These changes will place an even larger burden on families in need of health care and on women's reproductive rights.
I urge you to vote against H.B.2036.
Sincerely,
The Arizona Republic posted a copy of Proud's email on its website yesterday, but Proud didn't return New Times' call to verify/explain it.
An update to the Republic post says Proud "defended her statement."
Proud also took to Facebook to say that responding to critical emails is some sort of Democrat "gotcha" game.
"I always try to answer every email that I receive - friendly or hostile," she posted late last night. "I don't apologize for emails I state are my personal opinion. I may not be cut out to be a politician, but I am cut out to be a Representative and it's sad that the left like to play 'I gotcha' games through emails while sitting in my office. Some legislators don't even respond to emails for fear it's just another 'gotcha' moment - thank a Democrat for that."
