Three women took to the Democratic National Convention stage Monday night to share their traumatic pregnancy experiences and defend abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
The women, Amanda Zurawski, Kaitlyn Joshua and Hadley Duvall all appeared on stage together. The spotlight moved to each one as they recounted their painful stories of doctors refusing medical services and, in the case of Duvall, her own stepfather raping her.
Each placed blame on former President Donald Trump for the current crackdown on abortion access in many Republican-led states. Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices and hailed the court’s 6-3 ruling in 2022 that dismantled the landmark 1973 abortion protections.
“Every time I share our story, my heart breaks. For the baby girl we wanted desperately. For the doctors and nurses who couldn’t help me deliver her safely. For Josh, who feared he would lose me too. But I was lucky; I lived,” said Zurawski, who spoke with her husband Josh. “Because of Donald Trump, more than one in three women of reproductive age in America lives under an abortion ban. A second Trump term would rip away even more of our rights.”
Hadley Duvall
Duvall, 22, became pregnant at 12 years old as the result of sexual abuse from her stepfather. The Kentucky woman described how scared she was.
“Growing up, I was an all-American girl: varsity soccer captain, cheerleading captain, homecoming queen and… survivor. I was raped by my stepfather after years of sexual abuse. At age 12, I took my first pregnancy test and it was positive. That was the first time I was ever told, ‘You have options.’ I can’t imagine not having a choice,” she said.
That pregnancy occurred long before Roe v. Wade was overturned. “But today, that’s the reality for many women and girls across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans,” Duvall said. “There are other survivors out there who have no options. And I want you to know that we see you. We hear you.”
Duvall wrote an op-ed earlier this year in the Louisville Courier Journal describing her ordeal and what she would tell her childhood self.
What I would want to tell that scared 12-year-old is that she is going to be okay. She is going to grow up to play college soccer, be an All-American cheerleader, adopt the world's cutest dog named Honey, be the first person in her family to graduate from college and get ready for grad school so she could help other survivors. But I will always be healing. What I can't stop thinking about is another 12-year-old girl like me who has no options.
Trump has said he backs exceptions to abortion bans for rape and incest; he also supports letting each state determine its own laws.
Kaitlyn Joshua
Joshua said she was turned away from two different Louisiana emergency rooms while experiencing a miscarriage. She then had the miscarriage at home.
"Two years ago, my husband and I were expecting our second child. Our daughter Lauren couldn't wait to be a big sister,” Joshua recalled.
“I was getting ready for her fourth birthday party when something didn't feel right. Two emergency rooms sent me away. Because of Louisiana's abortion ban, no one would confirm that I was miscarrying. I was in pain, bleeding so much that my husband feared for my life. No woman should experience what I endured, but too many have,” she said.
“Our daughters deserve better. America deserves better,” Joshua added.
Amanda Zurawski
Zurawski was the lead plaintiff in a major lawsuit against Texas's abortion ban, which has a narrowly tailored exception for the life or health of the mother. The Austin woman argued in her lawsuit that the Texas law was too vague when it comes to medically necessary exceptions. The Texas Supreme Court upheld the law earlier this year.
"When you're expecting a baby, packing for the hospital should be a joyful moment. For us, it was different. We were told, with 100% certainty, we would lose our baby girl, Willow. And we were sent home. For three days, we waited until Amanda was sick enough to receive standard abortion care,” her husband, Josh, told the convention.
The resulting infection ultimately damaged Zurawski's reproductive system, and she said she will need a surrogate for any future children.
“We need to vote as if lives depend on it, because they do,” she said Monday.