Dr. Austin Dennard On Life Campaigning Against Texas Abortion Bans

Dr. Austin Dennard is an OB/GYN from Dallas who was forced to leave the state for an abortion after a devastating diagnosis during a pregnancy. She was a plaintiff in the lawsuit Zurawski v. Texas, which sought to clarify the medical exceptions to the state’s abortion ban that was heard by the Texas Supreme Court. Dennard often speaks publicly about her ordeal and has appeared as a surrogate for the Harris-Walz campaign, as well as for Colin Allred and other Texas candidates. She recently spoke to Texas Signal for a conversation about her work on the campaign trail. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. 

First off I can only imagine your schedule, how are you doing?

I am very lucky to have a super supportive husband because I definitely could not juggle all of this without his support. He is the secret sauce to all of this for sure. Balancing a full-time practice and being on the trail as a surrogate for multiple candidates is tough work, but it’s really fulfilling. Because every time I say yes and talk to people who care passionately about the subject and want to see change, it’s really healing for me personally, but also very invigorating. So it makes me want to say yes to more opportunities.

Being from Texas, I imagine you’ve talked with people who maybe didn’t realize these were the consequences of a state enacting such draconian laws?

You realize that there are all different levels of public understanding about what is going on and there are many folks out there who don’t even realize these bans are in place. They might not necessarily be as engaged with the subject or with politics in general, and then others who understand that there are abortion bans but don’t necessarily think that they will be affected by them. What I find universally is that when I share my story, and when other surrogates share their personal stories, it really does move the needle and brings awareness to the subject. And people feel really strongly afterwards, that the bans in Texas are just not in line with what any reasonable individuals in our state want for families here.

This whole process of being a campaign surrogate, was this anything you could have ever imagined?

Oh my gosh, no. I have said this many times and I will say it again but it’s so much easier to do an emergency c-section with a patient awake and the husband standing right there. Not because I don’t care passionately about it, but it’s just not anything I ever thought I would be spending my time doing. I always felt I was a big advocate for women and for my patients and empowering women knowing how their bodies work and trying to be the best version of themselves. But I did not think that would involve me doing any of this work. If you had told me a year ago that I would be doing this, I would have just laughed.

At the top of the ticket there was a change in candidates. How do you feel about Vice President Harris taking the helm? Reproductive freedom has been a topic she feels comfortable discussing and championing in a way perhaps President Biden could not.

Don’t get me wrong I have an enormous amount of respect for President Biden. And I think he understood the power of storytelling and the power of us as surrogates being able to change hearts and minds about this scenario. In the time that I spent with him and Dr. Biden I still felt the same amount of support for my storytelling as I have felt with the Harris campaign, but as a candidate I do think her track record of being on the trail speaking about reproductive freedom for all these months, the way she eloquently talks about abortion, I do feel it is much more in her wheelhouse to talk about. And that is very exciting. During the Democratic National Convention, it just felt so repro-forward and I was sad I ended up not going.

That was a big focus there.

Most recently the way she spoke about abortion and reproductive freedom in the [presidential] debate brought me to tears. Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a political candidate, especially a presidential candidate, speak so emotionally in a good way and eloquently about what the stakes are. And frankly with a fire in her voice because of what has happened, because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans. The way she spoke directly to him about the impacts of what he has done in our country to women and the stories that she has heard and the people she has talked to on the trail. It felt like it impacted her.

You’re also working with Texas candidates like Colin Allred, how has that been approaching this topic as they try to put themselves forward as fighting against these current laws?

Our individual story telling is very important because it gives these candidates an example of real-life Texans who have been affected by these bans in order to highlight the implications of what is going on. We know that most individuals want abortion access and want individuals to make their own reproductive healthcare choices. I think when you are pro-choice as a candidate, it’s an easier topic to talk about. Ted Cruz has never responded to anything I’ve ever said to him or looked me in the eye or said ‘sorry’ about anything I have been through. Nobody on that side of the ticket has. But people like Colin, Elizabeth Ginsberg, or Sam Eppler, these are individuals who truly care about the issue and have gone out of their way to reach out to [people] like myself and many of my co-plaintiffs in the Zurawski lawsuit because they care. And they want to use our stories in a positive way to show individuals who might not know what is happening in their state to be able to put a face and a story to the issue, which I think helps get the message across.

You mentioned that lawsuit. It seems like you and your fellow co-plaintiffs, in the face of unspeakable tragedy, it feels like there’s a close bond you have developed with one another.

One hundred percent. We have a group text. We have an e-mail chain. We’re always messaging back and forth. We’re getting together when we have time off just to be with each other. It’s whole community of women who have all been through such difficult circumstances and bonded together through this lawsuit. We’re all at different stages in our lives, and healing and grieving, but having each other to go to when you’re having either a good or bad day is really important. We totally feel bonded in this fight that we’ve all been through.

So, we’ve got just a few weeks until Election Day. How are you staying motivated?

We’re trying to keep our head above water and maintain this stamina. If I could wave a magic wand, I would want all three of those Supreme Court Justices in Texas who looked at us and essentially said all our stories don’t matter, I want them all gone and replaced by Justices who care and don’t have a political agenda to deny women basic medical care. And if I had [that] magic wand Colin [goes to] the Senate. Get Ted Cruz outta here. We’re boots on the ground working so hard to make that happen. I really truly feel like six more years of Ted Cruz is not in the best interest of our state.

There’s a documentary about that case, Zurawski v. Texas. We’re hopeful at Texas Signal to speak with the filmmakers soon.

It debuted at the Telluride Film Festival. The response has been an outpouring of love and support. For individuals or undecided voters who aren’t quite sure how they feel about this issue of reproductive freedom, taking them to the film I really think highlights the real-life consequences of abortion bans. And that exceptions don’t work. We need to be able to trust women to make the best decision for their bodies. Sometimes the best way to explain that to people is by [seeing] a film. So we’re really proud of the [documentary] and I’m hoping it can get distributed widely.