Kate Cox is one of the women speaking about her abortion experience

Ayala’s story about a reproductive health clinic at the Illinois House of Representatives and an advocate of reproductive rights in the United States

Ayala is 28 and works as an electrician. His wife saw a post about a free reproductive health clinic that was being hosted by the Democratic National Convention, and she encouraged him to sign up.

Patients could take abortion pills on site or home, under Illinois law, when they were given prescriptions in a second exam room on the other side of the RV.

The clinics are near the convention to show how they can be creative in how they meet people’s healthcare needs.

Planned Parenthood purchased the RV in response to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which allowed most of Illinois’ neighboring states to heavily restrict abortion.

Providing abortion in the region means navigating a variety of challenges including security. There was a security guard present as the unit was inside a fenced lot.

The president of National Right to Life said that it was not surprising that the Democratic Party supported abortion rights.

The Democrats feature stories of women who have been affected by abortion bans, which include rape victim and patients with medical problems.

SHAPIRO: People’s attention was drawn to Kate Cox’s story. It’s relevant to this conversation about reproductive rights in the U.S. and we need to remember what she went through.

The Avatars of the Relatives: Naomi Joshua, Karen Joshua, Julie Burkhart, and the Importance of Being Public about Abortion

She’s named Karen Joshua. I looked out into the audience at my husband and he could tell that I was about to freak out, because I had tears in my eyes. So he kind of summoned me to calm down, just go slow. It’s difficult. It’s very heavy.

SHAPIRO: Selena, it’s so striking that we are seeing these women recount traumas on a national stage and, in doing so, kind of becoming a political force.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: It’s true. The Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago has turned the public face of abortion upside down. The abortion issue never came up at the RNC, even though it was a key area of focus for Republicans. Multiple speakers are discussing it frankly. I reached Julie Burkhart, who’s also at the DNC this week. She’s an owner of the Hope Clinic, which provides abortions in Illinois.

There is a person who says, “Simons-Duffin.” Burkhart was working for doctor George Tiller when he was murdered in Kansas in 2009. She decided to reopen his clinic, so she knows about the risks and rewards of being public about abortion.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: I asked Kaitlyn Joshua about the toll of being so public about abortion, especially ’cause she lives in the Deep South. She says it is hard to relive what she went through over and over, and there are people who push back on her and her story, which is painful. She told me that she was let go from her job because of how much campaigning she was doing for Harris. She is determined to keep doing this work, she thinks she was called to do it.

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