Women hurt by GOP abortion ban speak out ahead of Trump-Harris election

On Monday, while campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama had a message to the men of America: The lives of the women you love are on the line in this election.

During an event in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the former first lady spoke directly to men in the crowd and explained how strict abortion bans could put their girlfriends in legal jeopardy, leave their mothers without access to life-saving cancer screenings and deprive their feared daughters call their doctor if they experience complications during an unexpected pregnancy. For some across America, these hypothetical situations have already become a reality. Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, many women have come forward with stories of harrowing pregnancy experiences in post-Roe America. On Tuesday, “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski spoke with three of these women to discuss how Republican-backed abortion bans have left them fighting for their lives.

In November 2022, Deborah Dorbert, a Florida mother, was five months pregnant with her second child when she learned that her baby had a rare disease that would likely result in death soon after birth. Due to the state’s strict abortion ban, doctors refused to terminate Dorbert’s pregnancy, forcing her to carry the baby to term.

A Florida mother spoke to Brzezinski about the physical and mental toll these months have taken on her and her family.

“I fell into a deep depression and started having suicidal thoughts,” Dorbert said. “I endured physical pain that was worse than the birth itself, and I went to a deep, dark place, both physically and mentally, trying to understand (and) prepare for childbirth – because I faced life and death at the same time. same day.”

Dorbert described how she was forced to explain the situation to her 4-year-old son. “He asks questions: What is an angel? Where did his brother go? What is heaven? Does he have toys? And I tell him: I don’t know.” Caitlin Joshua, a Louisiana mother, was also denied health care in 2022 due to abortion restrictions in her state. Caitlin and her husband Landon were excited to welcome another child into their family, but unfortunately, just over 10 weeks into her pregnancy, she suffered a miscarriage.

Joshua said two emergency departments in the state refused to treat her because the procedures she would need to treat a miscarriage are also used for elective abortions. Instead, the nurse suggested that the mother continue her prayers.

“I am a Christian, a woman of faith, and at that moment I did not want or need prayers. I needed access to abortion services,” she told Brzezinski.

Amanda Zurawski, a Texas mother who made headlines after suing the state in 2023 after she was denied an abortion, also joined the group. She told Dorbert and Joshua she was proud of them for speaking out and acknowledged that the pain of their experiences would never truly go away.

“These conversations are not easy,” she told Brzezinski. “They don’t get any easier. It will never get easier for them. We have experienced great grief, trauma, loss—those things stay with you forever.” At the end of the interview, Brzezinski asked the women why they decided to speak out now, in the final days of the election.

“I speak to share my son’s legacy,” Dorbert said. “To help make changes so that no one has to go through what I went through.”

Joshua added: “For me, as a woman of color, as a Black woman, I have to say that I speak for all women of color who look like me. They don’t necessarily want to be on the front lines sharing their story—and why would they? That’s why I’m here, to make sure I am amplifying their voices.”

“I help people connect the dots,” she continued. “And understand that it could be you too if we don’t do what we need to do on November 5th.”

Zurawski then echoed the words of the former first lady: “For those people who think this might be a niche, you’re going to care when it’s your mother, your sister, your wife, your aunt. We need to stop the suffering.”