Austin couple Amanda and Josh Zurawski put a Texas face on the case for protecting abortion access Monday as they took the stage on the Democratic National Convention’s opening night.

A video introduction featured Amanda emotionally recounting the pregnancy complications that meant daughter Willow was certain to die. Even so, she said, doctors declined treatment because of the state’s strict abortion ban that went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.

Instead, Zurawski was sent home to wait and ended up back in the hospital days later with an infection that nearly killed her and threatened her fertility. She and other Texas women sued the state saying the law put their health at risk.

The video included a clip of former President Donald Trump proudly taking credit for the overturning Roe vs. Wade.

“I almost died because doctors were forced to follow Trump’s abortion ban,” Zurawski said in the video, which also featured Vice President Kamala Harris vowing to sign a law protecting abortion access nationwide.

Amanda and Josh Zurawski then spoke live on stage about the fear they had felt, saying a second Trump term could mean more restrictions on abortion access.

“We need to vote as if lives depend on it, because they do,” Amanda Zurawski said.

This week’s convention in Chicago is expected to heavily feature Democratic promises to protect abortion rights as the party rallies behind Harris as its newly elevated nominee.

Democrats say Trump is responsible for tight abortion restrictions or outright bans in many states because he nominated three conservative Supreme Court justices who provided the margin for overturning Roe vs. Wade.

Texas is among 14 states that outlaw abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Texas has a medical emergency exception that allows an abortion to save the life of a pregnant person or alleviate the risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function, but critics have said the language is so vague that it has put women such as Zurawski in danger.

Zurawski took the stage Monday night alongside two women whose traumatic pregnancy experiences also have been featured in Democratic campaigns: Kaitlyn Joshua of Louisiana and Hadley Duvall of Kentucky.

Joshua, who has been featured in a Biden ad, blamed Louisiana’s abortion ban for being turned away from two emergency rooms while having a miscarriage.

Duvall spoke next, recounting how she became pregnant at age 12 after being raped by her stepfather.

“That was the first time I was ever told you have options,” she said. “I can’t imagine not having a choice, but today, that’s the reality for many women and girls across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans.”

Zurawski has previously shared her story in several forums, testifying on Capitol Hill and attending the 2023 State of the Union address as a guest of first lady Jill Biden.

Zurawski also was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit brought against the state by Texas women who said they had abortions delayed or denied during medical emergencies because of the state’s restrictions.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled against them in May, striking down a lower court ruling that would have exempted such pregnancies from the state’s laws.

The Biden campaign released an ad in April featuring Zurawski in which she sobbed about losing Willow. The ad ended with the words, “Donald Trump did this.”

Trump has said he is “proudly the person responsible” for overturning Roe and that abortion law should be determined by the states.

He has shown he’s aware of potential vulnerability on the issue. Republicans tweaked their official platform at his urging to remove language about a national abortion ban. He did not mention abortion once during his lengthy acceptance speech at last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Abortion rights have featured heavily in down-ballot races as well, including U.S. Rep. Colin Allred’s challenge to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Allred, D-Dallas, has targeted Cruz’s support for abortion restrictions and highlighted stories like Zurawski’s, saying the way to restore a nationwide right to abortion involves defeating Cruz.

Cruz has countered by saying Democrats are out of touch by refusing to back any limits on abortion.

Reproductive rights will be a focus of this week’s convention away from the stage as well. A mobile Planned Parenthood health center will be parked near the convention and offer free medication abortions and vasectomies. There also were plans to display a 18-foot-tall IUD.

During his Monday podcast, Cruz cited the offer of free abortions as evidence the Democratic Party has moved far from when former President Bill Clinton said he wanted abortion to be “safe, legal and rare,” and instead become “zealots” on the issue.

“That is just how extreme the Democrat Party has gone,” Cruz said.