It's been two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion that women had for nearly half a century.
Since then, the issue has been taken to state legislatures, with some codifying the right and others enacting intense bans. The issue has also become part of a tragic story that many women have come to share — like the three women who took to the Democratic National Convention stage Monday night.
Each described the effects their state's abortion ban had on their health: Amanda Zurawski first described how she nearly died after being sent home while in premature labor. Hadley Duvall spoke third, sharing how she could have been forced to give birth at the age of 12 after being raped by her stepfather.
Speaking second, Kaitlyn Joshua spoke of being turned away from two hospitals in Louisiana that didn't know how to provide the care she needed while miscarrying.
"My husband and I were expecting our second child. Our daughter, Lauren, couldn't wait to be a big sister. I was getting ready for her 4th birthday party when something didn't feel right," Joshua told the crowd. "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 my husband feared for my life."
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Democrats have shared stories like this to highlight the key issue that many voters may have at the top of their mind come November, and Joshua joined Scripps News to share why she's joined Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail to help.
"I'm motivated because I know so many women in this country are living under a state's abortion ban and are faced with the same adversity when trying to access health care every single day. My story is not unique," Joshua said, noting she's heard "hundreds" of stories on the trail of women who have had to cross state lines to access abortion health care.
Joshua said experiencing the effects of an abortion ban "in real time" was "the wildest thing" she'd ever experienced. She told Scripps News she felt like she "was in a movie," particularly when she spoke with physicians.
"Just to see the fear in their eye, their faces, kind of how they'll put their head down when speaking with you and just make it very clear on what they could not do for you versus what they were able to do —it was clear that it was having a chilling effect in the way that they practiced medicine," Joshua said.
The Louisiana resident said instead of receiving care, she was sent home "with prayers." And if Republican nominee former President Donald Trump is elected, she fears this will happen more often to women and their young daughters.
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"My fear is that every woman in all 50 states will be dealing with what I dealt with," Joshua told Scripps News. "That is my fear, that this would become so many women's reality because we know [Trump] will enact a national abortion ban if he were to be reelected into office as our president. And that is just far too dangerous and a risk that I am not willing to take."
Moving forward, Joshua said she hopes more advocates can continue to move the narrative around abortion from being a political conversation to one of health care. She also thinks increased support for abortion rights on both sides of the aisle should propel the Republican party to move the issue out of its agenda.
"I think it's just not being able to kind of move away from this agenda that they've been embedded in for so many years, even if the people are not behind them. And it's frustrating," Joshua said. "It also tells us that we've got to do a better job of putting people in office that represent us... We've got to make sure that everyone is aligned on this issue of reproductive rights, or you'll have a very minor amount of people making decisions for the large majority."
