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    High School Valedictorian Swaps Speech To Speak Out Against Texas' New Abortion Law

    "There is a war on my body and a war on my rights," Paxton Smith said. She was allowed to finish the well-received speech, but the school district says it will look into preventing future switches.
    by Bill Chappell Jun 03, 2021 3 minutes
    The speech that high school valedictorian Paxton Smith pulled from inside her graduation gown was not the one she had shown the school. So she took a deep breath before launching into it, wondering if she would be allowed to share her thoughts about Texas' new restrictive abortion law.

    The speech that high school valedictorian Paxton Smith pulled from inside her graduation gown was not the one she had shown the school. So she took a deep breath before launching into it, wondering whether she would be allowed to share her thoughts about Texas' new restrictive abortion law.

    "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," Smith said in her speech at the graduation ceremony for Lake Highlands High School in Dallas.

    Despite swapping her text,

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