DNC centers abortion rights as women tell personal stories

Texas mom of two Kate Cox said she was never a political person before she was denied an abortion last year for a pregnancy doctors told her wouldn’t survive, and would risk the possibility of any future pregnancies. But on Tuesday night, she stood to help cast Texas’ vote for nominee Kamala Harris in the Democratic National Convention roll call, announcing she’s pregnant again with a baby due in January — she says, because of the abortion she was able to access out of state. 

Cox is one of the multiple women sharing her story at the DNC this week, as Democrats highlight what they call extreme abortion bans in many states in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. Although former President Donald Trump has said he wouldn’t call for a national abortion ban, Trump told CBS News in an interview this week that he has “no regrets” about the overturning of Roe, something made possible by the conservative justices he nominated to the Supreme Court. 

Harris, who has said she would sign national protections for abortion access as soon as Congress passes legislation, is much more comfortable talking about abortion than is President Biden, who is Catholic. Mr. Biden has openly expressed his personal qualms with abortion, but he said last year that “Roe v. Wade got it right.” But now with Harris as the nominee, that comfortability with the topic is playing out at the DNC. 

“I’m Kate Cox and I love being a mom,” Cox said as she stood to help cast Texas’ vote for Harris. “I have two beautiful children and my children and I have always wanted a third. But when I got pregnant, doctors told us our baby would never survive, and if I didn’t get an abortion, it would put a future pregnancy at risk. But Trump didn’t care, and because of his abortion bans, I had to flee my home.”

“There is nothing pro-family about abortion bans. There is nothing pro-life about letting women suffer and even die. Today, because I found a way to access abortion care, I am pregnant again,” she said, to cheers. “And my baby is due in January, just in time to see Kamala Harris sworn in as president of the United States.”

Cox’s case went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, which denied her request to access an emergency abortion, drawing the attention — and in many cases, ire — of the country. Cox already had to leave the state to obtain the procedure. 

In an interview Tuesday night, Cox told CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil she was “never a political person” before what happened in December 2023. But now, she feels she must speak out 

“I’m a mom, I was never a political person,” Cox said. “But after what my family went through because of extreme abortion bans, we had to speak out and tell our story. There are still millions of Americans living under devastating, extreme abortion bans, and it’s devastating for their families, for their health, so we had to speak out.” 

Access to abortion and reproductive care is a major theme throughout this week’s DNC in Chicago, appearing in speeches as well as women’s personal stories. 

On the first night of the DNC, three women shared their personal stories, including wo women who were denied medical care while undergoing miscarriages and a third who became pregnant at the age of 12.

Kaitlyn Joshua was expecting her second child and getting ready for her 4-year-old daughter’s birthday party when she sensed something was wrong. But two emergency rooms in Louisiana sent her away. 

“Because of Louisiana’s abortion ban, no one would confirm that I was miscarrying,” Joshua said. “I was in pain, bleeding so much my husband feared for my life. No woman should experience what I endured. But too many have. They write to me saying, ‘What happened to you happened to me.'”

Amanda Zurawski, another Texas women, shared her story of when she suffered from a number of medical complications and knew she would miscarry, but doctors told her they could not induce labor because the fetus still had a heartbeat. She was a part of an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit to clarify the state’s medical exemptions for abortion. “I was lucky: I lived,” Zurawski said Monday at the DNC.

“Today, because of Donald Trump, more than one in three women of reproductive age in America lives under an abortion ban,” Zurawski said. “A second Trump term would rip away even more of our rights.” 

And Hadley Duvall, a young woman whose ad dominated and influence last year’s Kentucky governor’s race, shared her story of becoming pregnant at 12 after being raped by her stepfather during a lengthy period of sexual abuse. 

“I was raped by my stepfather after years of sexual abuse,” Duvall said. “At age 12, I took my first pregnancy test. And it was positive. That was the first time I was ever told, ‘You have options.’ I can’t imagine not having a choice. But today, that’s the reality for many women and girls across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans. He calls it a beautiful thing. What is so beautiful about a child having to carry her parent’s child?”

Duvall received a standing ovation from the DNC crowd.