If Republicans win in the next election, they will “prosecute doctors” who perform abortions, and “will shame and spy on women,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said at Tuesday night’s Democratic National Convention session in Chicago.
Duckworth said that her daughters “would never have been born without access to reproductive care. Because after 10 years of struggling to have them, I was only able to have them through IVF [in vitro fertilization].” But if Republicans win in the next election, “they will not stop at banning abortion, they’ll come for IVF next … If you think that’s far-fetched, just look at what happened in Alabama last year.” She was referring to the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen embryos are the legal equivalent of children, which caused IVF providers to pause their services until the state legislature passed a bill to protect them from liability.
“How dare a convicted felon like Donald Trump treat women like they’re the ones breaking the law,” she said. “How dare J.D. Vance criticize childless women and then vote against legislation that would have helped them start families. It’s simple: every American deserves the right to be called Mommy or Daddy without being treated like a criminal.”
“Together in November, we’ll send a message to old ‘Cadet Bone Spurs,'” said Duckworth, a veteran and amputee, referring to Trump, who was once exempted from military service due to bone spurs in his heel. “Stay out of our doctors’ offices and while you’re at it, out of the Oval Office too.”
Michelle Obama Shares IVF Story
Like Duckworth, former First Lady Michelle Obama also discussed her personal experience with IVF. “Cutting our healthcare, taking away the freedom to control our bodies, taking away the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did, those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives, mothers, and daughters,” she said. Furthermore, “demonizing our children for being who they are or loving who they love, that doesn’t make anybody’s life better. Instead, it only makes us small. Going small is never the answer.”
Her husband, former President Barack Obama, said that Trump really only cares about himself. “He doesn’t care if more women lose their reproductive freedom because it doesn’t affect his life,” Obama said. In contrast, “as vice president, Kamala Harris helped take on drug companies to cap the price of insulin and lower the cost of healthcare. She’s running for president to lower the cost even more and protect Medicare and Medicaid, and she will sign a law to guarantee every woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions. In other words, Kamala Harris won’t be focused on her problems; she’ll be focused on yours.”
Trump got a lot of criticism during the evening for his role in ending Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. “Because of Trump’s abortion ban, I had to flee my home,” said Kate Cox, a reproductive rights advocate from Texas, during the ceremonial roll call of the states to nominate Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) for president and vice president. “There’s nothing pro-family about abortion bans, nothing pro-life about letting women suffer and even die. Today, because I found a way to access abortion care, I’m pregnant again, and my baby is due in January, just in time to see Kamala Harris sworn in as president of the United States.”
Republicans Come Under Fire
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took advantage of his speaking opportunity to criticize his Republican colleagues. “Senate Republicans pretend to care about middle-class families, but voted no about expanding the child tax credit, and [vice presidential candidate and Republican senator] J.D. Vance didn’t even show up to vote,” he said. “Republicans pretend to care about freedom, but they voted no on a woman’s right to choose, no to safeguarding IVF, and no to birth control; that’s just a case of an extremist America.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with the Democrats, laid out a policy agenda for them. “Oligarchs tell us … we shouldn’t expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and vision,” Sanders said. “Well, I’ve got some bad news for them. That is precisely what we are going to do. And we’re going to win this struggle because this is precisely what the American people want from their government.” In addition, he said, “We need to join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right, not a privilege. And we need to take on Big Pharma and cut our prescription drug costs in half so we no longer pay any more than other countries.”
“Joe [Biden] and Kamala [Harris] made sure no seniors in America pay more than $35 per month for insulin; we need to make sure that reality is true for every American,” Sanders said. “I look forward to working with Kamala [Harris] and Tim [Walz] to pass this agenda.”
“Let me be clear; this is not a radical agenda,” he added. “But let me tell you what a radical agenda is, and that is Project 2025,” a conservative policy blueprint for the federal government that was written by a group that included many former Trump administration officials. “Putting forth a budget to cut Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid is radical … Letting polluters destroy our planet is radical, and we won’t let that happen.”
‘Kind, Not Cruel’
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) told convention-goers that “The anti-freedom, anti-family policies of MAGA [Make America Great Again] Republicans are driving workers away from states with strict abortion bans. Americans don’t want to be forced to drive 100 miles to deliver a baby because a draconian abortion law shut down the maternity ward. Americans want the hope of giving birth through IVF, not the fear that it might be taken away. Americans with LGBTQ kids don’t want them to be facing discrimination at school because the state sanctioned it … Democrats want economic policies that are kind, not cruel, but Trump chooses cruelty every time.”
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said that Trump and Vance “want to repeal the Affordable Care Act and eliminate protections for preexisting conditions. Either these guys don’t get it, or they just don’t care. Kamala Harris gets it, and she cares. As [California] attorney general, she took on the drug companies that jacked up prices and hospitals that overcharged patients, and when Republicans tried to kill the Affordable Care Act, she stood up in the Senate, voting not just ‘No,’ but ‘Hell No.'”
“And Kamala Harris hasn’t just stopped Republicans from making the healthcare system worse, she fights every day to make it better,” said Grisham, who formerly served as a congressperson for New Mexico. “I know; I spent 20 years working to get Medicare to be able to negotiate drug prices; as vice president, Kamala Harris delivered it.”
“You know what Trump delivered?” she continued. “Junk plans, higher premiums, and abortion bans.” If Trump gets reelected “and you don’t think abortion bans would be worse, I’ve got a box of Trump steaks to sell you. Kamala Harris will protect your right to care. She’ll cap drug costs, and ensure every woman who needs it can access reproductive healthcare. That’s the president I want and that’s the president America needs.”
The convention continues Wednesday, when expected speakers include former president Bill Clinton, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Walz, who will deliver his vice presidential nomination acceptance speech.
Joyce Frieden oversees MedPage Today’s Washington coverage, including stories about Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, healthcare trade associations, and federal agencies. She has 35 years of experience covering health policy. Follow
