The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is currently in progress in Chicago, Illinois — and from the beginning, championing abortion has been a main focus. In addition to promoting legal abortion within the convention, Planned Parenthood parked its mobile bus near the DNC, offering free on-site abortions and vasectomies, as well as giant inflatable IUDs.
Inside the convention, several women — who have all campaigned against pro-life laws — spoke about how they were allegedly harmed because of obstacles they faced in killing their preborn children.
The theme of “Trump’s abortion bans” was commonly heard among the speeches, despite the fact that Donald Trump has never enacted any “abortion bans,” nor has he advocated for federal restrictions on abortion. The reason why state laws protecting human beings from abortion are being referred to by some as “Trump’s abortion bans” is because his two Supreme Court appointees voted with the majority in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. This allowed states to enact their own laws either restricting or liberalizing abortion. (Oddly enough, logic would dictate that if the DNC believes state “bans” are because of Trump, then states which have passed laws allowing abortion up to birth are also because of Trump.)
None of the women mentioned below who spoke at the DNC needed to have their children intentionally killed by induced abortion.
Kate Cox
Cox is a Texas woman who sought an abortion after her preborn child was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, or Edwards syndrome. She unsuccessfully sued the state of Texas to be permitted to undergo a dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion and ultimately obtained one outside the state. Earlier this summer, Cox announced she was pregnant again, this time with a baby who does not have a disability.
“I’m Kate Cox, and I love being a mom. I have two beautiful children, and my husband 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 need an abortion, it would put a future pregnancy at risk,” Cox said at the DNC on Tuesday. “But Trump didn’t care and because of his abortion bans and I had to flee my home. There’s nothing pro-family about abortion bans. There’s nothing pro-life about letting women suffer and even die today because I found a way to access abortion care.”
This was Cox’s “abortion care.” This is what was done to her daughter.
FACT CHECK MOMENT: Dramatic hyperbole aside (and note the reference to Trump’s “abortion bans,” addressed earlier in this article), many of the claims Cox made about her previous pregnancy are false. She claimed the abortion was medically necessary because she had previously undergone two C-sections, meaning she was at an increased risk of uterine rupture. But Cox is pregnant again, this time with an apparently healthy baby whom she does not plan to abort, yet the risks are exactly the same now as they were when she aborted her daughter, Chloe.
Cox is willing to risk uterine rupture for a healthy baby, but not for a baby with a life-limiting condition.
Trisomy 18 is no longer considered “incompatible with life,” as medical advances have proven that children with Trisomy 18 can survive if they are given active care, as opposed to merely being written off as children who can’t survive, and therefore, should be left to die. Research from the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital showed that by “taking an aggressive approach to treatment, 90% of babies born with Edwards syndrome can go home from the hospital,” and remarkably, “their five-year survival rate can reach close to 77%.”
Cox has repeatedly claimed the abortion she requested was “life-saving,” because her pregnancy was dangerous. Yet carrying a child with Trisomy 18 is not known to be more dangerous than carrying a child without a disability.
And perhaps most importantly, had Cox’s abortion actually been medically necessary for her health or life, it would have been permitted under Texas law, which states that the provisions of the Texas Heartbeat Act “do not apply if a physician believes a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance with this subchapter.” The law requires the physician to “make written notations in the pregnant woman’s medical record of: (1) the physician’s belief that a medical emergency necessitated the abortion; and (2) the medical condition of the pregnant woman that prevented compliance….”
Hadley Duvall
Duvall, who is from Kentucky, was raped by her stepfather as a child and became pregnant at the age of 12. That pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, but she has been frequently speaking out about her horrific experience to advocate for legal abortion.
“Growing up, I was an all-American girl: varsity soccer captain, cheerleading captain, homecoming queen and … survivor. I was raped by my stepfather after years of sexual abuse. 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,” she said in her speech at the DNC. “But today, that’s the reality for many women and girls across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion ban. There are other survivors out there who have no options. And I want you to know that we see you. We hear you. [Trump] calls it a beautiful thing. What is so beautiful about a child having to carry her parent’s child?”
FACT CHECK MOMENT: Duvall’s speech makes it seem as if Trump called the rape of a child “beautiful.” But he didn’t. The Hill reported on Trump’s comments in June, taken from an interview with commentator Sean Hannity. Speaking about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe, Trump expressed his feelings about citizens of states now having the ability to decide their own abortion laws:
And it’s taken it off the shoulders of the federal government. Always they wanted it to be decided by the states. And Roe v. Wade didn’t do that. It put it into the federal government.
So now states are voting on it. And in many cases, it’s more… liberal. In many cases, not in all cases. In some cases, they’re going the other direction.
But the people are deciding. The people are deciding. And in many ways, it’s a beautiful thing to watch.
In other words, Trump wasn’t referring to anything even close to what Duvall deceptively claimed.
Legislation has since been filed in Kentucky to allow abortion in the cases of rape and incest, to protect the mother’s “maternal health,” and in cases where the preborn child is diagnosed with a “lethal fetal anomaly or the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside the womb.” It’s been named Hadley’s Law, after Duvall.
What happened to Duvall as a child is horrific and evil, and should never happen to anyone. But many survivors of rape have chosen life for their children, and deserve to have their voices heard, too. It’s also not been acknowledged, by Duvall or the DNC, how often abusers use abortion as a tool to cover up their crimes, so they can continue assaulting their victims.
But ultimately, the most important point in abortion following rape is that an innocent person — a preborn child — receives a death sentence for someone else’s crime. People conceived in rape have just as much of a right to life as anyone else.
Amanda Zurawski
Zurawski and her husband, Josh, addressed the convention, and spoke about their experience of being denied an abortion after Zurawski suffered cervical insufficiency at 18 weeks. She was told that she would have a miscarriage, but because their daughter had a heartbeat, nothing could be done until she passed naturally.
“When you’re expecting a baby, packing for the hospital should be a joyful moment. For us, it was different. We were told, with 100% certainty, we would lose our baby girl, Willow. And we were sent home. For three days, we waited until Amanda was sick enough to receive standard abortion care,” Josh said. “I’m here tonight because the fight for reproductive rights isn’t just a woman’s fight. This is about fighting for our families.”
FACT CHECK MOMENT: It is apparent that Zurawski suffered from medical neglect. But she did not need an induced abortion, which intentionally and directly kills a preborn human being. And, as stated earlier, Texas law actually allows for induced abortion in the case of a medical emergency.
According to Dr. Christina Francis, board member and CEO-elect of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, women with cervical insufficiency can be treated with a stitch, called a cerclage, placed in the cervix to help the baby remain in the womb. Doctors would then monitor the woman for signs of infection throughout the pregnancy, and then provide the appropriate treatment if she did develop an infection. In that scenario, the appropriate treatment would be administering antibiotics and inducing labor for early delivery — not intentionally killing the preborn child through induced abortion. Zurawski’s daughter would have been too premature at 18 weeks to survive, but an early delivery to save a mother’s life is not considered an induced abortion.
Zurawski developed sepsis because her doctors did not monitor her as they should have, and medical negligence is to blame for that… not pro-life laws.
Kaitlyn Joshua
Living in Louisiana, Joshua claimed the state’s pro-life law prevented doctors from treating her when she experienced a miscarriage at 11 weeks. “Two years ago, my husband and I were expecting our second child. Our daughter Lauren couldn’t wait to be a big sister,” Joshua said at the convention. “I was getting ready for her fourth birthday party when something didn’t feel right. 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 that my husband feared for my life. No woman should experience what I endured, but too many have. Our daughters deserve better. America deserves better.”
FACT CHECK MOMENT: This is not “because of Louisiana’s abortion ban.” It is potentially an instance of medical neglect, as in the case of Amanda Zurawski. Treatment for a miscarriage is not the same as an induced abortion, in which a preborn child is intentionally targeted for death, even though the drugs used are often the same. “It is only abortion if the baby is alive,” retired OB/GYN and former abortionist Dr. Kathi Aultman, who is now pro-life, previously told Live Action News.
It is important to note that the following things are not considered abortion under Louisiana state law, and are legal (miscarriage is noted; emphases added):
(i) A medical procedure performed with the intention to save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child.
(ii) The removal of a dead unborn child or the inducement or delivery of the uterine contents in case of a positive diagnosis, certified in writing in the woman’s medical record along with the results of an obstetric ultrasound test, that the pregnancy has ended or is in the unavoidable and untreatable process of ending due to spontaneous miscarriage, also known in medical terminology as spontaneous abortion, missed abortion, inevitable abortion, incomplete abortion, or septic abortion.
(iii) The removal of an ectopic pregnancy.
(iv) The use of methotrexate to treat an ectopic pregnancy.
(v) The performance of a medical procedure necessary in good faith medical judgment or reasonable medical judgment to prevent the death or substantial risk of death to the pregnant woman due to a physical condition, or to prevent the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman. However, the physician shall make reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner consistent with reasonable medical practice.
(vi) The removal of an unborn child who is deemed to be medically futile. The diagnosis shall be a medical judgment certified by two qualified physicians and recorded in the woman’s medical record. The medical procedure shall be performed in a licensed ambulatory surgical center or hospital. Upon the completion of the procedure, the physician shall submit an individual abortion report consistent with R.S. 40:1061.21 that includes appropriate evidence of the certified diagnosis.
Experiencing a miscarriage, whether at home or at a hospital, is a traumatic experience. And while it’s understandable that a woman will want the trauma of that to be over as soon as possible, that doesn’t mean that surgical intervention is immediately necessary. Even Planned Parenthood has noted that it can take up to two weeks for a miscarriage to pass naturally, and often, what should happen is that doctors monitor the woman weekly for white blood cell count and temperature; if they are elevated, that’s a sign of infection, and intervention is necessary.
The stories told by these women at the DNC are heartbreaking and designed to tug at the heartstrings of anyone who hears them. They are also meant to make the notion of laws protecting preborn children from abortion seem cruel and torturous.
But the simple truth is this: intentionally killing preborn children is not medically necessary, and women deserve better.
