BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (WAFB) – Baton Rouge took center stage on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Kaitlyn Joshua was one of three women who spoke to the audience at the DNC as part of the Harris campaign’s Reproductive Rights Tour.
It is an invitation that she says she received three weeks ago.
“I think it means a lot. I think my stories and those of the other two women that the country will hear from tonight are really compelling,” Joshua said.
Her story was featured several times on WAFB after she was denied care at two hospitals during a miscarriage in 2022. Her message is that maternal health care and abortion bans intersect.
“Women have told me they were unable to get the care they were entitled to, that they had to cross state lines when they had a miscarriage, or that they had extenuating circumstances at 24 weeks’ gestation and were unable to get abortion care due to their state’s policies and laws,” Joshua said.
Louisiana’s Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill released a statement late Monday.
“Once again, Democrats are wrong about their facts. There is nothing in our law, passed under Governor John Bel Edwards’ administration, that prohibits emergency care for people who have suffered a miscarriage or any other emergency situation during pregnancy. Nothing. A clean slate. In fact, doctors are required by law to provide care to people who are experiencing an acute health crisis, whether it be appendicitis or a miscarriage.”
According to a recent Tulane study, maternal mortality rates are higher in states like Louisiana with stricter abortion restrictions.
“One thing we as citizens of Louisiana must be clear about is that we have a lot of work ahead of us between now and the next election cycle to turn around our state legislature and our Louisiana legislature and put people in office who will represent us and vote in our best interests,” Joshua said.
She said she plans to attend every night of the meeting and leave Chicago on Friday.
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