Women Are 'Scared to Tell Their Doctors They're Miscarrying,' Louisiana Woman Says at DNC

On Monday night, three women—Louisiana's Kaitlyn Joshua, Texas' Amanda Zurawski, and Kentucky's Hadley Duvall—helped open the Democratic National Convention by sharing deeply personal, horrific stories of how abortion bans have impacted them. Joshua recounted being turned away from two emergency rooms while she experienced a miscarriage about 10 weeks into her pregnancy. In fear of punishment under Louisiana's abortion ban, which offers only a nebulous exception for threats to the pregnant person’s life and threatens doctors with up to 10 years in prison, Joshua says doctors wouldn't even "confirm that I was miscarrying." She was ultimately denied an emergency abortion to safely complete the miscarriage and suffered through prolonged, heavy bleeding and cramping. "I was in pain, bleeding so much my husband feared for my life. No woman should experience what I endured. But too many have," Joshua said. "They write to me, saying, 'What happened to you happened to me.' Sometimes they're miscarrying, scared to tell anyone, even their doctors." Amanda and Josh Zurawski, Kaitlyn Joshua and Hadley Duvall, all discussing abortion rights and their own stories, drew some of the strongest crowd reaction and applause here tonight. pic.twitter.com/tK0BzpMurL — Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) August 20, 2024 Joshua's harrowing personal story on stage at the DNC on Monday reflects testimony from OBGYNs before Congress in January. The doctors warned that their patients in states where abortion is banned—and even states where it's legal—are afraid to ask basic questions about pregnancy and their health out of fear that they or their doctors could face criminal charges. “The amount of fear that is induced now for individuals who are considering pregnancy, considering growing their families, who come to my office—even if it’s an annual exam just for a routine checkup—with questions, means some of them are too afraid to even ask me what their rights are,” Dr. Austin Dennard, a Texas-based OB/GYN who was denied an emergency abortion herself in 2022 after Roe v. Wade fell, said. “Because they fear putting me in a litigious situation. So, you don’t even get the medical care you need. You can’t even ask questions of your doctor for fear that either you’ll be at legal risk, or you’ll put your doctor at legal risk.” On stage at the DNC, Joshua stressed that "America deserves better" and that Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz "will fight for reproductive rights and our freedom in our shared future." Joshua previously said her experience "has made me see how Black women die. Like this is how Black women are dying.” Before Joshua, Zurawski shared her story of being denied an emergency abortion in Texas as a call to action for voters to support Harris. "I was lucky. I lived," she said. "So I'll continue sharing our story, standing with women and families across the country. Because of Donald Trump, more than one in three women of reproductive age in America lives under an abortion ban. He would rip away even more of our rights." Zurawski is the lead plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit alongside over 20 other Texas patients and doctors to clarify the Texas ban’s ambiguous exception for threats to the pregnant person’s life. In 2022, Zurawski testified that she nearly died of sepsis after she was denied an emergency abortion even though her pregnancy wasn’t viable and jeopardized her life. Though Zurawski eventually received emergency care, by then, it was nearly too late: Her right fallopian tube permanently closed and her whole uterus collapsed, jeopardizing her fertility even as she still hopes to have kids. Assault and incest survivor Hadley Duvall at the DNC: Trump calls…