West Virginia’s legislature is considering a bill to prohibit abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Of course it’ll pass; that legislature is over two-thirds Republican (78-22 in the lower house, 23-11 in the senate), and the GOP governor will sign it. Citizen input is a mere formality; the voters chose this when they elected Republicans.
The hearing on the bill gave speakers 45 seconds each to talk. A girl named Addison Gardner, a 12-year-old middle schooler, made the most of her very limited time. Here’s her speech:
“I play for varsity volleyball and I run track. My education is very important to me, and I plan on doing great things in life. If a man decides that I’m an object, and does unspeakable, tragic things to me, am I, a child, supposed to carry and birth another child? Am I to put my body through the physical trauma of pregnancy? Am I to suffer the mental implications, a child who had no say in what was being done with my body? Some here say they are pro-life. What about my life? Does my life not matter to you?”
The GOP’s standard-issue answer is she’s supposed to go through life holding an aspirin between her knees. (Note: The then-septuagenarian reactionary billionaire who came up with that one dropped dead last year, and we’re a better country for his absence.)
Most of the speakers, who included doctors and clergy, opposed the bill. The speakers used words like “disgusting,” “cowardice,” “delusional” and “inhumane” to describe it. This won’t make any difference; public input isn’t wanted, and won’t be listened to. The bill’s passage is a foregone conclusion, regardless of what public or professional opinion is. West Virginians’ only recourse is to elect Democrats or move to another state.
But Addison Gardner accomplished one thing: She shamed those legislators, who claim to be protecting children, and did it with style.