Girl, 12, challenges W.Va. lawmakers on abortion: ‘What about my life?’

Synopsis

During a West Virginia abortion ban hearing after Roe v. Wade was overturned, a 12-year-old girl took the floor, asking Republicans, “What about my life?” With only 45 seconds to speak, Addison Gardner joined dozens at the West Virginia House to oppose the bill. Timothy Bella at The Washington Post documents what Addison said in those 45 seconds: “If a man decides that I’m an object and does unspeakable and tragic things to me, am I, a child, supposed to birth and carry 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?” Soon after, the House passed the ban: a 69 to 23 vote.