If a man decides that I'm an object, it is unspeakable and 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?
>> That's a 12 year old, speaking before the state Legislature in West Virginia.
Her name is Addison Gardner.
And she is among dozens of people who showed up to that very
hearing to voice their concerns about an anti abortion
proposal which ultimately passed in the State House.
Now, lawmakers are currently considering House Bill 302, which would ban
almost all abortions, except for pregnancies with medical emergencies,
ectopic pregnancies, or fetuses deemed medically nonviable.
And what I love is that here you have a young girl, she's 12 years old.
Most 12 year olds are not really privy to what's happening in state and
local politics, but she's very much aware.
She understands the consequences.
And she has the courage to stand there and deliver,
in such an eloquent, articulate way, how much hypocrisy is behind
this notion that these lawmakers are doing it to protect life.
And Emma, I have a lot more context in regard to how West Virginia lawmakers got
to this point, but before I get to all of that,
I wanted to hear your thoughts on Addison, cuz I just thought she was incredible.
>> I mean go Addison when I was 12 years old, I was just so afraid of being liked.
That I would never, never stand up for
what was right to that degree or put myself out there like that.
That takes an immense amount of intestinal fortitude as they say.
And so she deserves all the credit in the world and
I'm sure she's gonna go on to do great things.
Because if she has the confidence then hey,
she should have it later in life as well.
Many times fold.
But the, the exceptions that were listed there really what stands out to me.
And I just want people who are watching this too,
get in the habit of dismissing every time.
There's a discussion about exceptions for a miscarriage, or for rape, or incest.
Because they're largely red herrings as a way to
distract from the brutality of the bill.
For rape and incest exceptions, you would have to prove that in the court of law.
Do you know how long that would take?
At least months.
Maybe years.
And the pregnancy would go all the way through at that point.
So it is just a way to dilute the brutality of what Republicans
are trying to do across the state legislatures across the country.
And it's very similar for life of the mother,
because what they're trying to do in those instances are just to get the doctors
way too afraid to do anything at all.
And so, hey- >> Yep.
>> It has a chilling effect.
And all of those caveats are just a way to distract from
the reality of Republican brutality.
>> Emma, it's such an important point, and I'm happy that you're making it here.
Because I get kind of irritated with how both the media and
our politicians get stuck at debating exceptions to
this incredibly draconian treatment of women.
Because in reality, all of those exceptions would
require the woman to explain what she's going through.
Like just think about what that experience is.
And how much you wanna keep, like you'd have to explain yourself.
And give detailed information about your private life to
the government in order to qualify for an exception to make
a decision about your own life, your own health, your own body.
Like let's move on.
It actually infuriates me almost as much,
as when the leaked draft opinion was being reported on.
And inevitably you have some members of the media who are obsessed about who
the leaker is.
>> Yeah. >> Who cares, who cares, who cares.
>> I don't care at all.
>> Doesn't matter, doesn't matter.
>> Yeah, and when you engage in that battle,
you're following into falling into Republicans traps about that.
They also want to frame abortion as something that just happens and
it can only be acceptable when something so awful has happened to you.
Like a medical emergency, or rape, or incest.
Then that horrible act, that horrible act of ending a pregnancy is acceptable.
No, it's always, always acceptable for a woman to take control of her own body.
And so the framing of it is a disaster.
>> I don't think anyone, any woman should have to explain or
disclose all these detailed personal elements of her life to the government,
to be able to make a decision about her body.
And by the way, the very people who are now forcing women to go through this,
are the ones who just I know I've made this point before, but
I can't get over it.
They were crying about the invasiveness of wearing a mask during the pandemic,
dealing with a highly contagious virus.
They thought it was the biggest violation of their personal liberties.
But let's just take a moment to consider what a body
goes through in nine months of pregnancy.
And also what a body goes through during childbirth.
In a country where the maternal mortality rate is
the highest of any developed nation.
Just think about that.
And then on top of it, there's no support for medical care and how to pay for it.
There's no social safety net for
someone living in poverty who wouldn't be able to afford raising a child.
And the response from these right wingers is, we'll, just put the kid up for.
I mean if you can't do it, just put the kid up for adoption.
Lots of people want to adopt your kids.
No, they don't. Yeah, yeah.
>> No they don't.
>> They don't adopt any of the kids already in foster care.
>> Exactly. >> There are thousands, and thousand, and
thousands of children all throughout this country.
It is not about that.
It's about controlling women and it's about saying, hey,
you're in an abusive relationship.
Well, if you're pregnant, you don't really have an option to leave.
And if you wanna have some economic independence, hey,
maybe you don't really have an option to do that,
because you have to raise this child that you didn't want.
I mean, it's all about controlling women.
And they work backwards from that.
And so, you always have to reframe it in that way.
>> Exactly, and so what was the aftermath of this hearing?
Well, unfortunately hours after Gardner spoke, Addison Gardner,
a 12 year old, the House narrowly adopted an amendment to the bill
to allow abortions in cases of rape or incest.
But the exception in the amendment, which passed 46 to 43,
is allowed only up to 14 weeks of pregnancy and
only if the rape or incest is reported to police.
I mean, it is beyond invasive.
It is a violation of a person's autonomy.
It's a violation of their freedoms, a violation of patient doctor privilege.
It's just, it is exactly what Republicans claim to be against.
Which is big government controlling your life.
Whenever they talk about small government, I just want you all to remember,
they're not talking about small government impacting the lives of ordinary
Americans, right?
They want big government impacting the lives of ordinary working Americans.
They want small government for one thing and one thing only.
And that is corporations.
They don't want any government intervention.
They don't want any labor laws protecting us.
They don't want them to have to do,
they don't want employers to have to pay minimum wage.
They don't want employers to have to provide decent working standards and
conditions to keep us safe.
They want government out of any type of regulation that would impact
corporations and cut into the profits that these corporations can make.
But when it comes to us, they can't get enough of that big government.
Big government all day baby.
>> Yeah, and again, these exceptions for incest and rape,
say you're a victim of incest and you're 14 years old,
it's your dad, it's your uncle, you got to report that to the police.
If not, you got to have that baby.
And the reality is that they think, and even Matt Walsh,
the conservative commentator said it.
If you're not in a position to deal with the consequences of having sex,
you better not have sex.
That's what they say.
They perceive it as a punishment.
If you're going to be promiscuous or if you're gonna be so bold as to
have a baby or take your reproductive health into your own hands and
not have it be completely at the whim of the inseminating partner,
the male, CIS male or whatever.
Then you deserve to be punished for it.
And the baby will be your punishment.
And that is the reality.
It's a theocracy, and
they have to launder it through a variety of other talking points.
Because what they're advocating for is so brutal and unpopular,
that they have to hide the ball.