Valedictorian Goes Off Script To Blast Texas Abortion Law

A high school valedictorian in Texas ditched her school-approved speech to use the moment to speak out against a restrictive new abortion law in Texas. MSNBC's Brian Williams shares the details.
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85 comments

  1. …good for her! …she has every right to stand up for her rights and women’s rights to control their own body!

    1. @Caza Aborteras42 “throw him into the river”… “just because I decided”… Waow! Such a caricature !!! So hysterical… Start studying the COMPLEXITY of life !!! And maybe you’ll be able to exercise your… “brain” ?!? A “real” & “tough” man is NEVER a dictator !!! He is wise & understanding…

    2. @Caza Aborteras42 Nobody has the right to use another person’s body without their consent. I cannot use my mother’s body now and I could not use my mother’s body when I was a fetus.

      Unborn fetuses aren’t entitled to “extra” rights. If I cannot use my mother’s body against her will, then neither can a fetus. That’s _equality._

    3. Alright, I suppose it’s time for men to stand up for our rights to opt out. I mean, our lives, our choice. Right?

    4. @TheLegendOfRandy “No one has the right to use the body of another”
      (Siamese)
      then human rights should exclude a minority of human living beings .. just because they are unwanted? mmm where have I heard that before ??

    1. @C E ””Markets were optimistic coming into the day, boosted by flight movement between U.S. and Europe,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. Demand for diesel fuel, including jet, has suffered during the pandemic, weighing down global oil markets.

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      Traders saw further signs of rising U.S. crude demand in the API’s stockpile data issued late Tuesday. Crude stocks fell by 7.7 million barrels in the week ended April 30. Gasoline inventories fell by 5.3 million barrels and distillate stocks fell by 3.5 million barrels, the data showed, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. read more The U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly statistics are due to be released Wednesday.

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    2. @Caza Aborteras42 Just look outside equality or oppression? Tyranny is god and if you don’t see that… then you are blind.

    3. @Nick Ford Lol and taking your American democratic rights away from you is fine LOL LOL LOLOL

    4. @Ricky Ng And that’s what Republicans are terrified by, because they would never win ever again.

    1. Do you think If someone murders a pregnant woman that their should be no additional charges compared to if they murdered some average guy?

    2. talking about your body when what you abort is not your body is an insult to human intelligence … If the fetus is not a human-person what external biological cause makes it one? If such functions as reason, consciousness or coherent brain activity make us a person, there should be an external cause foreign to the embryo that disturbs such qualities that make it a person, but there is no data whatsoever that shows that reason or consciousness or Coherent brain activity is externally distressed but on the contrary it is its own in a process that controls the same embryo should we assume that the embryo digivolve?

    3. @Choco Yes, because they deprived her of her bodily rights. Every individual has full dominion over their own bodies and nobody has the right to violate their bodily autonomy.

  2. This is why kids need to learn science and not some mythology. Kudos young lady, move out of that stupid place. Washington state or California may be ? Even after having a whole year of the world wasted on some RNA but still we have religious morons minds hooked on to stone age thinking and dictating people how to live their lives.

    1. talking about your body when what you abort is not your body is an insult to human intelligence … If the fetus is not a human-person what external biological cause makes it one? If such functions as reason, consciousness or coherent brain activity make us a person, there should be an external cause foreign to the embryo that disturbs such qualities that make it a person, but there is no data whatsoever that shows that reason or consciousness or Coherent brain activity is externally distressed but on the contrary it is its own in a process that controls the same embryo should we assume that the embryo digivolve?

    2. @lindsay jennifer Not at all cynical. Despite our altruism and idealism, we didn’t save the country when we were young. We grew up and stepped into our parent’s shoes. Now we expect our children to save the country from us. In the first place, it’s not their job. In the second place, it’s not going to happen.

    3. @taz 9 You expect the younger generation to step up and take back the rights our generation has been too complacent to protect? Are you actually kidding me?

  3. You go girl! Thank you for speaking your heart, instead of the “pre-approved” “everything is coming up roses” speech the school wanted you to read.

  4. That A Girl !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    It’s primarily your generation this unacceptable law will affect 1st .
    Stand Up Texans
    These are your daughters and granddaughters .

    1. Now wait a minute in the southern part of the U.S. they just figure the masses are too dumb to figure things out for themselves.

  5. Holy Cow! Brilliant. Moved me to tears and cheers at the same time. That young woman is brave. And brilliant. And – God willing – going places! I won’t forget her name.

    1. Think prochise42 think
      If the fetus is not a human-person what external biological cause makes it one?
      If such functions as reason, consciousness or coherent brain activity make us a person, there should be an external cause foreign to the embryo that disturbs such qualities that make it a person, but there is no data whatsoever that shows that reason or consciousness or Coherent brain activity is externally distressed but on the contrary it is its own in a process that controls the same embryo
      should we assume that the embryo digivolve?

    2. @JMDM Majah oh, because a priest raping a young boy is God’s way, right? DO YOU PEOPLE EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU TYPE IN YOUR COMMENTS? WTH is wrong with people anymore. Reading and comprehension is so a thing of the past, I see.

    3. @JMDM Majah this statement you make is everything that’s wrong with religion. By the way, you are wrong in your thinking on this.

  6. Republicans on the topic of COVID-19 Vaccines: “My body, my choice. The Government should not be telling me what to do.” (that was paraphrasing Ted Cruze recently)

    Ohh the Irony and hypocrisy.

    1. @lauren edson if I had a book deal I would also buy a house. Meanwhile that’s 1 against how many evangelists? So the argument stands, differences in charitable donations does not make one side better then the other. And on the rest of the thread arguments it’s freedom to allow or advise on things after giving it a lot of thought versus forbidding things because a minority thinks it’s wrong and wants to impose their will.

    2. Yes because killing a fetus and getting a vaccine are the same thing. Apparently it’s a hard concept to distinguish killing a baby and taking a vaccine

    3. @caleb Gavette getting a vaccine helps prevent the deaths of others. You’re clearly pro-life, don’t others’ lives matter too or does pro-life end after birth then it’s everyone for themselves?

  7. Her speech brought me to tears! There are deep issues in this country when old, White men in the minority are making decisions that the majority of the population disagree with. Paxton is a light on the horizon for America, but this long night is far from over.

    1. What countries have the most liberal abortion laws? who are they run by?

      Note human migratory patterns all over the globe. It would seem most of the world population wants to live in countries run by “old white men”.

      Finally, because you see something repeated a lot on your tv and iPhone screen does not mean that is what the majority of the population wants. These issues are complex, but you can look at the ‘ol red v. blue voter maps and it would seem that Texas majority leans a particular way.
      There are many states that are blue. Perhaps one of those would suit you.

    1. @B A Trump got rid of the ACA premiums 2 years ago. Rising prices offset is a debunked myth. All do this stuff can be explained to you, yet you’ll keep chiming in the same obselete tune like you weren’t listening.

    2. @Nola Rolla You are a fake Christian. The Bible actually has passages where abotive concoctions are suggested for women who have become pregnant out of wedlock. Also,a fetus is NOT a “child”. Please get educated.

  8. The truly sad part is this kid has to make a speech on such a topic that should be between a women and her gods. This has been decided in 1973.

    1. But it still is, there’s just a certain number of weeks by which you have to make that decision.

    2. @Khoi Le Courts don’t make up the laws; Congress (the representatives of the people) makes the laws. When the laws are challenged or deemed ambiguous, then the courts step in. You should have learned this in school. It’s basic Civics and Govt. 101.

    3. @Khoi Le I read that Reicht-Wing article, too… but You seemingly copied and pasted “nearly word for word” the summation of the quack’s premise… Bravo, boy wonder… plagiarism is an art within You.

  9. Great, good job. Well said. This High School Graduate has more guts than any Republican Representative within our state of Texas (or maybe w/i the US Congress)!!! The government cannot dictate a person’s medical health.

    1. Abortion is not medical health or treatment. It is a killing of a human being within the womb. It is a violation of a person’s right to live for the sexual convenience of a woman.

  10. Texas as a whole, and the rest of the southeast portion of the USA is a perfect example of why Abortion should be legal.

  11. Go Paxton! Well said and well presented!

    That’s showing bigger balls than the representatives of the state!

    1. @greg j Religious fools. The simplistic idea that contraception is the responsibility of one side (the girl) is as backwards as most other aspects of the Banana Republic of America…. and Texas is the most Bananas of them all! You Americans appear to love killing one another so much that you have more guns than citizens yet you have puritanical views of a sperm/egg mixture before it becomes an actual person. Very curious indeed! I suppose in your favour, you guys are certainly world leaders in murdering one another so I do bow to your expertise in that field.

  12. “Emotionally, physically and financially ready enough” to care for a child.

    THANK YOU!

    We don’t want to have kids just to have them. It’s not fair to the child.

    1. @ChasingDogma So this doesn’t seem to evade my refutation. The sign of life is still the presence of brain activity *in general.* And pain recognition is hardly a good standard either. Whether someone can feel pain or not hardly justifies killing them.

    2. @tippy Especially since killing the child is hardly fair to them either. It’s cute that they pretend to care about fairness, though.

    3. @Gabby’sLifeJourney A valid argument. When is something alive? I don’t think there is a strong consensus on when life begins. Some say it has to be viable out of the womb, others point to the ability to feel pain, or brain stim formation, etc.
      At heartbeat seems to be what this bill targets.

      Law has a lot of arbitrary lines. Age of “adult” is 18, not 17, not 19. why? Because line has to be drawn somewhere and that seems good enough. there are good arguments to move it up and good arguments to move it down. But a line has to be drawn somewhere.

      The problem with many pro-abortion advocates is that they seem comfortable drawing the line up to partial birth abortion at 9 months. This is feels viscerally evil and as there is no good argument that this isn’t a life. At this point, it’s just murdering a baby.
      So where do we draw the line?

    4. @Mark Renton Any *consistent* scientific answer about when someone is/isn’t alive would appeal to the presence of brain activity if not a heartbeat. Whether or not they can feel pain is 100% irrelevant.

  13. Wow, every single words she said is TRUE ! I applauded her bravery, you go girl ! Speak up for yourself if you want to have that right, speak up ! I feel so sorry for the women that have that right taken away from them. No one should take away that right from a woman, no one, PERIOD !

  14. GOD BLESS & CONGRATULATIONS!!! KEEP getting into “GOOD TROUBLE”
    …The Late
    Congressman John Lewis
    🎓📚💻📓📕📝🎓🎁🎉🎈💐😊🎓❤️😊🎓🙏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾💻🎓🎉🎁🎈🎂🎁🎉❤️😊🙏🏾🎁💙

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