Texas valedictorian, Paxton Smith, criticized the anti-abortion heartbeat law in her surprise graduation speech.
in the state should be concerned."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 said."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."
"All I could think of were platforms where people already agree with me," she explained."Like at a rally. People already have the same opinion as you. On TikTok, you're going to show up on peoples' 'For You Page' where they already agree with you." So, Paxton felt her graduation was the best option and the biggest risk would be saying nothing at all, no matter the consequences.
This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Paxton heard a rumor from a family friend that her microphone would get cut off at graduation if she went off script. That didn’t happen, and she was able to finish her whole three-minute speech. But, upon walking off the stage, a graduation organizer told her the school was considering withholding her diploma. Luckily, her name was called right on cue and she was the first of her class to graduate.
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