The director of the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, Joey Strickland, resigned on Wednesday and his newly hired assistant, Terri Proud, has been fired after she cited menstrual cycles as one possible reason women may not be suited for combat.
“It would have been hard for me if my mother had been in that position,” Proud said of her mother, a nurse in the Army, according to the Arizona-Sonora News Service. “I understand that women want to be on the front lines, and they want to do their service and women are very strong. We’ve really come far through the years. We’re extremely strong.”
She then added: “Women have certain things during the month I’m not sure they should be out there dealing with. I don’t know how to address that topic in a very diplomatic manner.”
Proud made headlines last year when, as a one-term state representative, she wrote an email to a constituent saying that every woman seeking an abortion should be required to witness one in person. Strickland hired her as an administrative assistant despite explicit instructions to not do so, according to the governor’s office.
“Col. Strickland was given very specific instructions about a year ago to avoid hiring this individual,” Matt Benson, a spokesman for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) told the News Service. “He chose to do so anyway and unfortunately that individual’s questionable judgment was on display this week with some ill chosen public remarks regarding women in the military.”
Proud later explained she was “making a funny comment”:
“I don’t have a problem with women being on the front line if that’s their choice,” Proud said. “I’m not going to sit there and say no you don’t have that right. I was making a funny comment, ‘What are they going to do?”
How menstrual cycles are handled is a curiosity she has, Proud said, noting that whether or not that hurdle is being addressed is a real issue even if it isn’t talked about. Women are designed differently than men and need to have their needs met on the front lines, she said.
Proud said no one had called her to ask her about the comment, she was just fired.
“For the Governor’s Office to do this because of an article that was written is asinine. It’s wrong,” Proud said.
