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published Oct. 29, 2021, 8:26 p.m. by mariamagboola
Will you support any female student in Nigeria who leads the call for the restoration of right to anyone who wants to have abortion to be free to do so?
Many have argued that while hiding under the cloak of religion, the ban on abortion in the country is hypocritical because many girls still go to quack doctors to engage in it; leading to their deaths or destruction of their productive system; thus preventing them from having babies when they are ready for them.
Read reactions to what a high school student did in U.S in response to what a Christian governor did.
Some babies are dumped in refuse bins and latrines because their mothers had them when they were not ready. Even married women are not left. Unplanned pregnancies had made some have more babies than they can cater for.
A student in a High School in United States who was given an opportunity to speak at a graduation ceremony surprised both staff and fellow students when she used the opportunity to attack the local authority for banning abortion.
Paxton Smith,the 2021 valedictorian at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, had submitted to school officials that she would address the gathering on the effect of the media on young minds.
But when she spoke at the graduation ceremony, she talked of the theft of her rights and those of her classmates by the "heartbeat bill", signed into law by Christian Texas governor Greg Abbott a week and a half before.
She told her class: "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; 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."The new law outlaws any abortion after a first heartbeat of the fetus can be detected. That could come early weeks after conception when many women are unaware they are pregnant.The law would also allow anyone to sue a Texas abortion provider or anyone who helped someone get an abortion, for as much as 10,000 dollars.
Ms Smith said: "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."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."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."A comedian, Sarah Silverman described the speech as "brave", and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wrote: "This took guts. Thank you for not staying silent, Paxton."Richardson Independent School District, of which Lake Highlands in part, said officials will review student speech protocols before next year's graduation ceremonies."It categorically denied having anything to do with the speech; saying ' 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
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law that bans abortion at 6 weeks. The law is scheduled to have taken effect.what do you think will happen to this student in an African set up?Please comment