Originally published by The 19th
Three women – Amanda Zurawski, Kaitlyn Joshua and Hadley Duvall – will speak about their experiences with abortion, miscarriage and pregnancy on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention.
It is the first time a woman has spoken on the convention stage telling her own stories about abortion. All three speakers have emerged as important surrogates for the Democratic Party, campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Zurawski, who rose to prominence after suing the state of Texas over its abortion ban, was a guest at President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in February 2023; she also spoke about her experience in an April commercial on behalf of Biden’s then-reelection campaign. Joshua, of Louisiana, has been a regular at Harris campaign events and appeared in a June commercial for the Democratic presidential campaign. Duvall, a Kentucky resident, appeared in a campaign commercial for Gov. Andy Beshear last year and in a July commercial supporting Biden.
Abortion is a central issue in Harris’ campaign, and other speakers this week – including former Planned Parenthood chief Cecile Richards and Mimi Timmaraju of the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All – are also likely to use their speeches to draw a contrast between Democrats, who broadly support abortion rights, and Republicans, who generally favor bans and restrictions on the procedure.
The issue of abortion has never received so much attention at the party’s national convention, but it reflects the fact that this year the party is viewing abortion – an issue on which it generally fares better with voters than Republicans – as an issue that could help them keep the White House and possibly even win a majority in Congress.
Amanda Zurawski
Zurawski, who will appear tonight with her husband, Josh, was one of the first women to sue a state over its abortion ban since 1973, the year Roe v. Wade was decided. The Austin resident became pregnant in 2022 after months of fertility treatments. But at 18 weeks pregnant, her water broke prematurely and her pregnancy was no longer viable. At that point, just months after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe ruling, Texas had almost completely banned abortions. The state’s only exception is if the procedure is necessary to save the patient’s life — the language doctors have repeatedly said is incredibly vague and difficult to put into practice. Violating the state’s ban is a crime, making doctors nervous about performing abortions until a patient is near death.
Although abortion is the standard treatment in a situation like hers, Zurawski had to wait three days before she could have an abortion — and could not receive treatment until she developed sepsis, a life-threatening infection.
In March 2023, she joined a lawsuit demanding further clarity from the state on who is eligible for a medical exemption. The case ultimately attracted 22 plaintiffs. In May of this year, the state Supreme Court ruled against her, refusing to provide further details on what constitutes a medical exemption.
Kaitlyn Joshua
Joshua blames Louisiana’s strict abortion laws for preventing her from receiving medical care after a miscarriage. The state has several abortion bans, the strictest of which allows abortions only when the pregnant woman’s life is in danger or when the abortion is necessary to prevent “serious, permanent damage to a life-sustaining organ.”
Joshua, who shared her story with NPR in 2022, said she was unable to access prenatal care during the first trimester of her pregnancy, a change she said her doctor’s office attributed to the state’s abortion ban.
At 11 weeks pregnant, Joshua suffered a miscarriage. But she struggled to get medical help; two emergency rooms turned her away, she said. The standard treatment for miscarriages is the same as for abortions, either with medication or a dilation and curettage. At the time, she said, the experience discouraged her and her husband from trying to conceive again.
In a Biden campaign ad, Joshua said the state’s abortion bans were a “direct result of Donald Trump’s overturning of the Roe v. Wade ruling.”
Hadley Duvall
Duvall was not directly affected by the overturning of Roe, which led to a near-total ban on abortion in her home state of Kentucky. Nevertheless, she has become one of the most prominent advocates of abortion rights and has spoken out about her own pregnancy due to sexual abuse.
Duvall, now in her early 20s, became pregnant at 12 after her stepfather raped her. She ultimately suffered a miscarriage, but Duvall has spoken about her experience to criticize the state law’s extremely narrow exemptions.
Kentucky’s ban, which is currently being challenged in court, allows the procedure only when it is necessary to save a pregnant person’s life or prevent a disability. It does not take into account mental health issues, and abortions are not permitted in cases of rape or incest. So someone like Duvall would not have been eligible.
“Trump and JD Vance don’t care about women. In this situation, they don’t care about girls,” Duvall said in the July ad.
