In joint remarks on the first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Amanda and Josh Zurawski, Kaitlyn Joshua, and Hadley Duvall shared, through their own lived experiences, the brutal realities of a post-Dobbs America.

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Their presence on night one set the tone for how Democrats will spotlight abortion rights, a critical issue heading into November. A March poll by the Wall Street Journal found that in seven battleground states, “39% of suburban women cite abortion as a make-or-break issue for their vote—making it by far the most motivating issue for the group.” Other speakers throughout the night, including 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, also used their time to draw attention to attacks on “reproductive freedoms.”

Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who almost died due to pregnancy complications, was one of the first women to sue her state over an abortion ban that directly impacted her.

Zurawski went through fertility treatments for months before becoming pregnant—news that her and her husband Josh were elated about. Following her 18-week mark, Amanda was diagnosed with an “incompetent cervix” and the Zurawskis were told that miscarriage was inevitable. They also learned that she was at a high risk for infection. But, because of Texas’ near total abortion ban, Zurawski wasn’t able to get immediate care.

In her state, medical providers who perform abortions face a life sentence unless the pregnancy poses a risk to the life of the mother. It was only once Zurawski developed sepsis—a life threatening condition—that she was able to get an abortion.

“Every time I share our story, my heart breaks,” Amanda said on Monday night. “For the baby girl we wanted desperately, for the doctors and nurses who couldn’t help me deliver her safely, and for Josh who feared he would lose me too.” Josh told the crowd that “the fight for reproductive rights isn’t just a women’s fight, this is about fighting for our families.”

“We need to vote as if lives depend on it,” Amanda concluded her speech. “Because they do”

Zurawski, along with tens of other plaintiffs, sued Texas over the confusion of who qualifies for a medical exception, and when. The state supreme court ruled against them in May.

“Right now in Texas, they want to institute the death penalty,” US House member Jasmine Crockett, who represents areas near Dallas, said on Monday night. “While Kamala Harris is fighting for our reproductive rights to be restored.”

When Kaitlyn Joshua was six weeks pregnant, she said she called a physicians' group in Baton Rouge to make her first prenatal appointment, but was told she couldn’t be seen for more than a month. "And I said, 'Oh Lord. Is this because of what I think? And they said, 'Yes,’” Joshua told NPR.

Joshua recalled being told by the woman on the phone that, because of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and her state’s subsequent ban, the medical group decided to delay the first prenatal appointment with patients.

Then, when Joshua began to miscarry a couple of years ago, she said she was denied from two emergency rooms in Louisiana. Joshua cites Louisiana’s near total abortion ban, which has no exceptions for rape or incest, for her inability to access medical care. Even prior to Dobbs, her state had one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the country.

“Because of Louisiana’s abortion ban, no one would confirm that I was miscarrying,” Joshua said on stage. “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,” she continued.

“They write to me saying, ‘what happened to you, happened to me.’”

Hadley Duvall is from Kentucky, and when she heard the news about Roe v. Wade being overturned, she decided to publicly share her story for the first time on Facebook. She wanted Kentuckians to have context about how the state’s near total abortion ban, which also lacks exceptions for rape and incest, would impact young women—and children—like her.

“Growing up, I was an all American girl, varsity soccer captain, cheerleading captain, homecoming queen, and survivor,” Duvall said on night one of the DNC.

When Duvall was just 12 years old, about a decade ago, her stepfather raped and impregnated her. “That was the first time I was ever told ‘you have options.’ I can’t imagine not having a choice,” she said. “But today, that’s the reality for many girls and women across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans.”

Then Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Andy Beshear’s team ended up reaching out to Duvall, and she appeared in an ad for the campaign.

“This is to you, [Kentucky attorney general] Daniel Cameron. To tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable. I’m speaking out because women and girls need to have options,” Duvall said in the ad, speaking directly to Beshear’s opponent, who had been vocally anti-abortion.

A few months later in November of 2023, Beshear beat Cameron by five points.

This section of speeches tonight stands in stark contrast to the noticeable absence of the word—let alone any substantial political discussion—of abortion throughout official speeches at the Republican National Convention. Despite a concerted effort over the past couple of years to celebrate, and take credit for, the overturning of Roe and the snowballing abortion bans that followed, RNC speakers were remarkably quiet on the issue. During former president Donald Trump’s acceptance speech, he didn’t mention abortion once.