DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas high school valedictorian scrapped a speech approved by her school administrators and delivered an abortion rights call in its place. Paxton Smith is the 2021 valedictorian at Lake Highlands High School. The speech she submitted to school officials addressed the effect of the media on young minds. Instead, she spoke at Sunday’s graduation ceremony of what she called “a war on the rights” of her body and those of other girls and women by the “heartbeat bill” signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The law forbids, without exception, any abortion after a heartbeat is detected.
