Praise for teen’s speech

A teenager has been praised after she scrapped her approved graduation speech to deliver one on abortion rights. Paxton Smith, 18, submitted a speech about the media to officials at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, Texas, ahead of her valedictorian address. But at the ceremony, she used an alternative script to discuss a recent Texas law curbing abortion rights. Smith said the “heartbeat bill” was a “war” on the bodies and rights of millions of women. The bill bans abortions in almost all settings, including cases of rape or incest. “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,” Smith said. The address went viral with Hillary Clinton tweeting: “This took guts. Thank you for not staying silent, Paxton.”