On a 20-10 margin, the state Senate voted Tuesday to ban virtually all abortions at 20 weeks of gestation, a measure that Planned Parenthood Arizona says makes it the most restrictive in the nation.
The vote came over objections of foes to HB 2036 who have argued that the question of terminating a pregnancy should be left to a woman and her doctor, without legislative intervention. But Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, said it’s not that simple.
“There’s a third person in that room,” he said. “There’s the baby. Who speaks for her, the totally innocent one with no voice? Who has the duty and the right to speak for her? We do.”
Senate Minority Leader David Schapira said he understands that, in a representative democracy, legislators are legally empowered to make such decisions.
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