Arizona state Rep. Victoria Steele (D) revealed during emotional testimony Wednesday that she was molested by a male relative when she was a young girl. Steele, who was speaking against a bill that would make it harder for women to elect abortion coverage in plans bought through the Affordable Care Act, hadn’t planned to talk about her past abuse, she explained later. But when committee chair Kelly Townsend asked her whether she felt abortion was a medical service, she felt compelled to share her experience.
“When I was a child, I was molested for years by one particular person,” Steele testified. “This is health care. Having the ability to get an abortion. This is health care. And that’s why I see this as necessary.”
Steele said she later found out there were multiple victims, one of whom told her their molester had told her he would “stick a pencil up there and take care of it” if she ever ended up pregnant.
After Steele’s testimony, a state House committee approved the bill by a 5-3 party-line vote. The bill now faces a vote before the full House.
In an editorial for Cosmopolitan published on Friday, Steele said she expected the bill to survive further debate, but explained why she thinks it’s dangerous for women’s rights:
I was sexually abused by an adult over a period of years when I was a young girl. My immediate family didn’t know about this until long after I had grown up and left home. When I was a child, I thought I was the only one. Then I found out that this person had many victims.
What I want, what I’m really hoping will come of all of this is that people will realize that this bill will cause women who have been raped recently, who are now pregnant as a result of their rape, to have to tell their insurance panel, or even their insurance agent, about one of the most horrific things that can happen to a person in order to get the exception that this bill will allow.
