A 12-year-old girl gave an emotional address at the West Virginia legislature on Wednesday (July 27).
Addison Gardner of Buffalo Middle School pleaded with lawmakers not to bring in an abortion ban that would outlaw the procedure in almost all cases.
"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," Addison said during a special session, per The Independent.
She continued: "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?” she added. “Some here say they are pro-life. What about my life? Does my life not matter to you?”
Despite Addison's passionate speech, lawmakers ultimately passed House Bill 302, sending it to the State Senate for consideration.
If it is passed, the bill would ban almost all abortions. The procedure would only be allowed in the case of pregnancies with medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, or if a fetus was deemed medically nonviable.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice called for the state's abortion laws to be modified after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade - the seminal ruling that protected the constitutional right to the procedure.
"From the moment the Supreme Court announced their decision in Dobbs, I said that I would not hesitate to call a Special Session once I heard from our Legislative leaders that they had done their due diligence and were ready to act," Justice said in a statement on Monday.
"As I have said many times, I very proudly stand for life and I believe that every human life is a miracle worth protecting," the Republican governor added.
West Virginia is just one of many Republican-controlled states to have brought in increased abortion restrictions in the wake of Roe v Wade being overturned.
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