The Democratic National Convention is a celebration of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee, and while there was much admiration for the Harris-Walz campaign, the first night of the Democratic National Convention was also an emotional reminder of what’s at stake in November.
On Monday, amidst celebrity speeches and some of the biggest names in Democratic politics, four ordinary Americans took the stage to talk about how canceling the 2022 presidential election would impact the presidential election. Roe v. Wade – and the state-level abortion restrictions that were implemented in its wake – affected their lives.
Perhaps the most poignant testimony of the night came from Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who became pregnant at age 12 and miscarried after being sexually assaulted by her stepfather. Duvall, now 21, first shared her story on Facebook in 2022 after her husband’s death. Ro.
“At 12, I took my first pregnancy test, and it came back positive,” Duvall told the Democratic National Convention audience. “That was the first time I was told, ‘You have choices.’ I can’t imagine not having a choice, but today, that’s the reality for so many women and girls across the country because of Trump’s abortion ban.”
“He calls it a beautiful thing,” Duvall said of Trump’s boasting about his role in ousting the president. Ro. “What's so beautiful about a baby carrying her parents' baby?”
Vice President Harris “will fight for every woman in every girl, even those who aren’t fighting for her now,” Duvall added.
Following her testimony, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who featured Duvall's story in a 2023 proclamation, called her “one of the most courageous people I've ever met.”
“I am amazed at the courage it took to share her pain, to share her truth,” he said.
Bashir used Duvall's testimony as a springboard to discuss the continuing threat Republicans pose to women's reproductive freedom.
“Trump and Vance simply don’t believe in your freedom,” he said. “Trump says people are very happy that women’s basic rights have been eliminated. J.D. Vance says women should remain in violent marriages, and that pregnancies resulting from rape are ‘simply inconvenient.’”
“Their policies give rapists more rights than their victims,” Bashir added. “This is not just annoying, it’s plain wrong. All women should have the freedom to make their own decisions, the freedom to control their own bodies, the freedom to choose whether to continue IVF, the freedom to choose whether to have children at all. The way we treat people goes beyond party lines, it goes to the core of who we are.”
Along with Duvall, Kaitlyn Joshua, a Louisiana woman, recalled that she began miscarrying early in her second pregnancy, and that several hospitals refused to care for her. “I was sent abroad to two emergency rooms,” Joshua said. “Because of the abortion ban in Louisiana, no one would confirm that I had miscarried. I was in pain, bleeding so badly that my husband feared for my life.”
Amanda and Josh Zurawski also spoke in detail about the loss of their daughter Willow, the baby they so desperately wanted and who they were told “100 percent” would not be viable at birth.
The Zurawskis lived in Texas — a state that banned abortion unless the mother’s life was in danger and enforced a “bounty” law against doctors who provided abortion care. “We waited until Amanda was sick enough to receive standard abortion care,” Josh told the audience. “Eventually, Amanda got a temperature and started shaking and losing her balance and collapsing. I don’t remember what I threw in our bag.” [hospital] “I was carrying the bag that day. But instead of welcoming Willow, I was hoping Amanda’s life would be saved.”
Amanda Zurowski then sued the state of Texas over its restrictions on abortion care, as part of a coalition of women whose lives were put in danger after they were denied care for their nonviable pregnancies. In May, the state Supreme Court dismissed the case, and abortion in Texas remains illegal with vague exceptions related to the mother’s life.
“I was lucky,” Amanda said. “I lived. And today, because of Donald Trump, more than one in three women of childbearing age in America lives under an abortion ban. A second Trump term would take away even more of our rights.”
