A Texas high school student went off-script to make a rallying call for abortion rights in her speech to her graduating class at the end of the school year, a video clip of which has since gone viral on social media.
Paxton Smith, the 2021 "valedictorian" at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas was initially supposed to speak about the effect of the media on young minds, with those comments approved by school officials ahead of Sunday's ceremony.
But soon after taking the stage, Smith instead pulled out a copy of another speech about abortion rights and Texas' newly passed "heartbeat bill," which was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott just a week and a half ago.
"I cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights," Smith said in her speech. "A war on the rights of your mothers, a war on the rights of your sisters, a war on the rights of your daughters. We cannot stay silent."
"I have dreams and hopes and ambition. Every girl graduating today does. We have spent our entire lives working towards our future, and without our input and without our consent, our control over that future has been stripped away from us," Smith said.
"I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail, I am terrified that if I am raped, then my hopes and aspirations and dreams and efforts for my future will no longer matter," she told her class.
"I hope that you can feel how gut-wrenching that is, I hope that you can feel how dehumanizing it is, to have the autonomy over your own body taken from you," Smith added.
What is the heartbeat bill?
The new law effectively bans abortions, without exception, after a first heartbeat is detected, which could be as early as six weeks after conception — before many women could be aware that they are pregnant.
The controversial legislation goes into effect in September and will be among the most restrictive laws in the United States, where abortion remains a highly polarized issue.
The US Supreme Court will hear, in its next term, a challenge to elements of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion across the country.
Reactions to the speech
The speech drew widespread praise online, most notably from Democrats.
Former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter: "This took guts. Thank you for not staying silent, Paxton."
Beto O'Rourke, another former presidential candidate and Congressman, thanked Smith for her courage.
"May we all use our place in this democracy to fight for what we believe to be right and follow your example," he said.
The school district of which Lake Highlands is a part, however, was quick to distance itself from the opinions Smith voiced.
"The content of each student speaker's message is the private, voluntary expression of the individual student and does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position or expression of the District or its employees," the Richardson Independent School District said.
It added that student speech protocols would be reviewed before next year's graduation ceremonies.
