Texas couple Amanda and Josh Zurawski took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Monday to talk about how the state’s abortion ban endangered Amanda’s life and fertility.
Amanda and Josh described how she nearly died after going into premature labor at 18 weeks of pregnancy. She went to a hospital to receive appropriate care but she was sent home to wait, as doctors and medical staff considered she was not sick enough to provide her an abortion. Days later she returned to the hospital with an infection that nearly killed her.
During three days in intensive care, doctors had to close one of her fallopian tubes, making it more difficult for her to have babies naturally. She said she had to rely on in vitro fertilization to start a family.
“Every time I share our story, my heart breaks,” Zurawski, who lives in Austin, said. “For the baby girl we wanted desperately. For the doctors and nurses who couldn’t help me deliver her safely. For Josh, who feared he would lose me, too. But I was lucky. I lived. So I’ll continue sharing our story, standing with women and families across the country.”
Since then, she along other Texas women have sued the state arguing the ban put their lives at risk.
“I was lucky, I lived, so I’ll continue sharing our story, standing with women and families across the country,” Zurawski said.
Then, she blamed former President Donald Trump for facilitating strict abortion bans that put women’s lives in danger. Trump nominated three conservative Supreme Court justices who then helped overturning Roe vs. Wade.
“I almost died because doctors were forced to follow Trump’s abortion ban,” Zurawski said in a video introduction.
“Because of Donald Trump, more than 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in America lives under an abortion ban,” she told the crowd. “A second Trump term would rip away even more of our rights.”
Trump and Republicans have faced backlash for pushing for more strict abortion bans, some have feared that the issue is costing votes for their party. Recently, Trump said he would not sign a national abortion into law, and would leave the states to decide on the issue. It is also unclear whether he would try to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone, but it is one of the goals of project 2025, which has close ties with Trump.
At the Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to sign a law protecting abortion access nationwide.
