Louisiana Representative Delisha Boyd on fighting for reproductive justice in the shadow of her mother’s trauma
Louisiana State Representative Delisha Boyd’s advocacy for reproductive justice is deeply personal. Raised by her grandmother after her mother’s death at a young age, Delisha’s life was shaped by the trauma of her mother’s rape, which led to her birth. “My mother had me when she was 15. My sperm donor is 28 years old,” Delisha shared. “Her coping mechanism was drugs and alcohol. And subsequently, she did not win that battle. My mother was dead before she was 30 years old, cardiac arrest from drug use at that young age.”
In her first legislative session, Delisha felt regret for not speaking out strongly enough, particularly about the lack of exceptions for rape and incest. “I didn’t share my story,” she recalls, but that initial hesitation later pushed her to act. Now, Delisha is an outspoken advocate, fighting to protect the most vulnerable—women, children, and rape survivors, especially young girls who could be forced to carry pregnancies. “You’re asking me to ask for life in place of a life,” she says, reflecting on the emotional toll of these decisions.
Delisha shared this story in conversation with Eleanor Vassili, recorded by StoryCorps Studios as part of the Abortion in America series, which documents the impact of Louisiana’s abortion ban. This project was produced in collaboration with Glamour and the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University.
We are a state where we have to fight for education dollars, we have to fight for adequate healthcare… yet we call ourselves pro-life.
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