'Great bravery and resolve.' Reaction to the death of Terry Anderson, AP reporter held hostage

A courageous correspondent who reported from the world's trouble spots. A supporter of humanitarian causes. A good friend.

Those were among the reactions to the death of Terry Anderson, the former chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press. Anderson was one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was abducted from Lebanon in 1985 and held for almost seven years. Anderson, 76, died Sunday in Greenwood Lake, New York, of complications from recent heart surgery.

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“Terry was deeply committed to on-the-ground eyewitness reporting and demonstrated great bravery and resolve, both in his journalism and during his years held hostage. We are so appreciative of the sacrifices he and his family made as the result of his work.” - Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of the AP.

“The word ‘hero’ gets tossed around a lot but applying it to Terry Anderson just enhances it. His six-and-a-half-year ordeal as a hostage of terrorists was as unimaginable as it was real — chains, being transported from hiding place to hiding place strapped to the chassis of a truck, given often inedible food, cut off from the world he reported on with such skill and caring.” - Louis D. Boccardi, the president and chief executive officer of the AP at the time of Anderson's captivity.

“He never liked to be called a hero, but that’s what everyone persisted in calling him." - Sulome Anderson, daughter. “Though my father’s life was marked by extreme suffering during his time as a hostage in captivity, he found a quiet, comfortable peace in recent years. I know he would choose to be remembered not by his very worst experience, but through his humanitarian work with the Vietnam Children’s Fund, the Committee to Protect Journalists, homeless veterans and many other incredible causes.”

“Our relationship was much broader and deeper, and more important and meaningful, than just that one incident,” Don Mell, former AP photographer who was with Anderson when gun-toting kidnappers dragged him from his car in Lebanon.

“Through his life and his work, Terry Anderson reminded us that journalism is a dangerous business, and foreign correspondents, in particular, take great personal risk to keep the public informed. ... For many years, Mr. Anderson had the distinction of being the longest held U.S. journalist hostage. He lived to see that unfortunate record eclipsed by journalist Austin Tice, currently held in Syria for nearly 12 years. When Anderson was kidnapped, the Press Club flew a banner across its building to remind journalists and the public of his plight. Similarly the Club now has a banner for Austin Tice." - statement of the National Press Club.

FILE - Former hostage Terry Anderson, center, carries his daughter Sulome, 6, through a crunch of the New York media upon arrival to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Dec. 10, 1991. At left is Sulome's mother, Madeleine Bassil, and at immediate right is Associated Press President Lou Boccardi. Anderson, the globe-trotting AP correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died Sunday, April 21, 2024, at age 76. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey, File)

FILE - Former hostage and Associated Press chief Middle East correspondent Terry Anderson, center right, hugs Associated Press Deputy International Editor Nick Tatro, his predecessor in Beirut, outside the Associated Press headquarters in New York, Dec. 10, 1991. Anderson, the globe-trotting AP correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died Sunday, April 21, 2024, at age 76. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

FILE - AP chief Middle East correspondent Terry Anderson, center, accompanied by his sister Peggy Say, left, and Madeleine Bassil, right, smiles broadly upon his arrival at the Wiesbaden Air Force hospital in Germany, Dec. 5, 1991, a day after being released by his abductors in Beirut, where he was held captive for almost seven years. Anderson died Sunday, April 21, 2024, at age 76. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

FILE - Former hostage Terry Anderson, accompanied by his daughter Sulome, not shown, and her mother, Madeleine Bassil, arrives to a festive welcome, Dec. 12, 1991, at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va. Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died Sunday, April 21, 2024, at age 76. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)

FILE - Former hostage and Associated Press Middle East chief correspondent Terry Anderson, center left, hugs colleague Jim Abrams during a visit to the Washington bureaus of The Associated Press in Washington, Dec. 12, 1991. Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died Sunday, April 21, 2024, at age 76. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson, File)

FILE - Wearing a "Hello World" sweatshirt printed with his picture, former hostage Terry Anderson greets happy colleagues, Dec. 10, 1991, at The Associated Press headquarters in New York, as he walks with his arm around fiancée Madeleine Bassil, center right. Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died Sunday, April 21, 2024. He was 76. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm, File)

FILE - Terry Anderson, who was the longest held American hostage in Lebanon, grins with his 6-year-old daughter Sulome, Dec. 4, 1991, as they leave the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Damascus, Syria, following Anderson's release. Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died Sunday, April 21, 2024. He was 76. (AP Photo/Santiago Lyon, File)

FILE - Former hostage Terry Anderson, the Associated Press chief Middle East correspondent, smiles during a news conference despite his broken glasses, Dec. 6, 1991, in Damascus, Syria. Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died Sunday, April 21, 2024, at age 76. (AP Photo/Santiago Lyon, File)

FILE - Former hostage Terry Anderson waves to the crowd as he rides in a parade in Lorain, Ohio, June 22, 1992. Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died Sunday, April 21, 2024. He was 76. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.

Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.

“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.

Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.

“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.

Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.

FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)