'War On My Rights': Dallas Valedictorian Blasts Heartbeat Law

DALLAS, TX —For Paxton Smith, it wasn't a chance to trick anybody. It was a matter of conscience that compelled her to deliver a commencement address wildly different from the speech she'd prepared.

At the outset, Smith, who is the valedictorian of Lake Highlands High School's class of 2021, intended to talk about being caught up in media and how it's influenced her worldview. But one thought wouldn't leave her alone: What she might say about Texas' "Heartbeat Bill," which became law after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the legislation last month.

The Heartbeat Bill, which many women's-right-to-choose proponents call the most restrictive abortion law on the books in America, dictates that doctors not terminate pregnancies after six weeks (when women often yet don't know they're pregnant), no matter whether the fetus is the result of rape or incest.

So Smith, who graduated with a 104.93 average, decided to . . . deviate from her prepared remarks.

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She consulted her three parents, who read the texts of both speeches. (There were two "yeas" and one abstention among them.) Then she went with her conscience. Say what you will about the stand she takes on the issue. In fact, Smith would probably applaud the idea that her address prompted an open discussion.

It was an act of remarkable bravery for one so young. And practicing free speech in a repressive era makes it worthy of praise on those merits alone.

In Texas, Lake Highlands High School valedictorian, Paxton Smith, switched out her approved speech to talk about abortion rights. pic.twitter.com/4xsoHARDSs
— Kolleen (@littlewhitty) June 2, 2021

Here is the full text of her address:

As we leave high school we need to make our voices heard. I was going to get up here and talk to you about TV and content and media because those are things that are very important to me. However, in light of recent events, it feels wrong to talk about anything but what is currently affecting me and millions of other women in this state.

Recently the heartbeat bill was passed in Texas. Starting in September, there will be a ban on abortions that take place after 6 weeks of pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest. 6 weeks. Most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant by then. And so, before they have the time to decide if they are emotionally, physically, and financially stable enough to carry out a full-term pregnancy, before they have the chance to decide if they can take on the responsibility of bringing another human into the world, the decision has been made for them by a stranger. A decision that will affect the rest of their lives.

I have dreams, hopes, and ambitions. Every girl here does. We have spent our whole lives working towards our futures, and without our consent or input, our control over our futures has been stripped away from us. I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail me, that if I’m raped, then my hopes and efforts and dreams for myself will no longer be relevant. I hope you can feel how gut-wrenching it is, how dehumanizing it is, to have the autonomy over your own body taken from you.

And I’m talking about this today, on a day as important as this, on a day honoring the students’ efforts in twelve years of schooling, on a day where we’re all brought together, on a day where you will be the most inclined to hear a voice like mine, a woman’s voice, to tell you that this is a problem. A problem that can’t wait. I refuse to give up this platform to promote complacency and peace, when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights. A war on the rights of your sisters, a war on the rights of your mothers, a war on the rights of your daughters.

We cannot stay silent.

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