CHICAGO — Abortion rights are front and center at the Democratic National Convention. Women from Texas and other Republican-led states who say their lives were jeopardized because of abortion restrictions or bans have been given a platform to share their harrowing stories.
The “Ride to Decide” bus made its final stop this week at the DNC in Chicago. The bus has traveled nearly 9,000 miles across nine states to draw attention to the effects of abortion restrictions in Republican led-states. The tour has featured the stories of women who faced life-threatening pregnancies because doctors were reluctant to perform abortions. Advocates say it’s the result of state restrictions on the procedure after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. Several of those women were from Texas.
After the fall of Roe, a near-total abortion ban went into effect in Texas, with the only exception of saving the life of a pregnant patient. After Kate Cox of the Dallas area learned that her fetus has Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome, a fatal fetal condition, she sued the State of Texas to try to get an abortion authorized. Cox, who was experiencing symptoms, eventually left the state to get the procedure.
“I sought health care that I desperately needed in the situation that I was in, and I was completely shocked that I couldn’t access that care in Texas. If my situation didn’t qualify for an exception, I don’t know who does, and so it’s been heartbreaking,” Cox, who is now pregnant, told Spectrum News.
“It was the most devastating thing we went through. I think there’s nothing pro-family about abortion bans. I’m pregnant today because I was able to have an abortion,” Cox continued.
Shortly after Texas’ six-week abortion restriction went into effect in 2021, Austin resident Kaitlyn Kash had a fatal fetal diagnosis. Because her life was not immediately at risk, she also did not qualify for the limited exception under the law to have an abortion in-state.
“I was thrown into the world and told to figure out our health care system, make travel arrangements, find child care and do all of those things, and, you know, that trauma will never leave me,” Kash told Spectrum News.
Many abortion rights supporters blame former President Donald Trump, whose three appointees to the Supreme Court created the majority that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. Trump has praised the ruling, saying the issue is best left to individual states to decide. These women are urging voters to back Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It’ll just be this really great evening to see a woman, somebody that has a uterus, actually take our party’s nomination and hopefully lead us forward and correct some of these laws,” Kash said.
Restoring abortion rights has been central to Harris’ campaign.
Cox represented the Texas delegation during the ceremonial roll call vote for Harris on Tuesday night at the convention. Another two Texans affected by the state’s abortion restrictions have also made their voice heard at the convention. Monday night, Josh Zurawski joined his wife Amanda, who said her inability to get an abortion after her fetus was determined to be non-viable led to an infection and diminished fertility.
“The fight for reproductive rights isn’t just a woman’s fight,” Josh Zurawski said. “This is about fighting for our families, and as Kamala Harris says, our future.”
“A second Trump term would rip away even more of our rights,” Amanda Zurawski of Austin said. “We need to vote as if lives depend on it, because they do.”
Trump argues that the federal government should not address abortion rights. The women from Texas and other states said what they want is the right to make decisions about their bodies and access reproductive health care.