If this blog can do a highlight of the week, then the valedictorian speech during high school graduation would make the list for all the wrong reasons.
A speech given by Paxton Smith that went viral has gotten many people talking. She argues where Texas has gone wrong after signing into law a heartbeat bill that recently passed. However, her logic and reasoning fell short. She used the platform as an opportunity to promote abortion and birth control. She admitted that she is afraid of bringing a child into the world if she faced an unplanned pregnancy and contraception fails (which does) due to inconvenience. The purpose of a high school valedictorian speech is to reflect on the four years of high school or college. It is not a time for propaganda. Even the board of her now alma mater were not notified about the change in her speech.
Some pro-lifers respond to her speech.
Dr. Monique Ruberu took it to her personal Facebook page to address where she is wrong:
Dear Paxton, You are a strong girl, an intelligent girl, but sadly you have bought the lie sold to so many beautiful women all over the world. You are correct that contraceptives do fail… the only way to 100% avoid pregnancy is to abstain from sex… this will help you to know that the man in your life is not using you for his sexual pleasure… it will leave you strong, confident, with the knowledge that the person you are dating is with you because of your beautiful mind, heart, and soul. If you one day marry this man and you need to abstain because of illness or a complication in pregnancy – you will have 100% confidence that he is not going to cheat on you because he is not with you just to satisfy his sexual desires… your relationship will be based on so much more, awesome conversation, dreams, trust… love and respect… If one day God forbid you are raped… the people I know who were conceived in rape are the most beautiful, loving, intelligent, life-changing people I know… to say they should have been aborted because of the sins of their father is heartless. The women who choose to give birth and keep their child or allow their child to be adopted typically do so much better than those who choose abortion… they know that although they were harmed, they are not perpetuating that harm upon another innocent person. Life doesn’t end with pregnancy… even if it is unplanned… every life is precious. You can still accomplish every dream, every goal… these moms need support and someone to tell them they are capable… instead you just told your entire class at lake highlands hs that the women are weak and if pregnant they are incapable of accomplishing great things… how many moms go to school, work, provide for their kids…. you negated all of that strength, that resilience, the very essence of being a strong woman… but it’s not your fault because you were fed a lie… so now is your chance… open your eyes… see how awesome life is… see how awesome women are … see that every life is a gift and every person is precious… see that you can choose to stop having sex … and you would have much less to fear…
To My Daughters, Please do not look up to girls like Paxton Smith. She may have the ability to string together emotionally driven words, but if they are not founded in truth it will lead to destruction. I know this so well. When mommy was a senior in high school I made a huge mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life. I believed the very lies that Ms. Smith relayed in her valedictorian speech. When I found out I was pregnant I felt that my dreams, my goals, and my aspirations were being stripped from me. Knowing what I know now, they were simply feelings. Feelings change but truth does not. As an immature teenage girl, I believed the lie that ending the life of my child would restore my dreams, my goals, and my aspirations. After consuming poisonous pills to end the life of my baby, your sibling, that is not what happened. Nothing was restored. It was all a lie. The regret settled in, but I quickly pushed it down to survive. There is nothing natural about taking the life of your own child. I do not care how empowering someone like Ms. Paxton may make it sound. The reality is I had no right to take the life of my innocent child for my own selfish gain. The last thing I would ever want for my beautiful girls is to believe that lie. What makes you a powerful woman is unapologetically being who God created you to be. It’s standing in truth even when the world is trying to convince you to live in lies. I pray Ms. Paxton will someday take her gift of intelligence and use it to protect life, not promote death.
Supporting women and their pregnancy by showering them with help, love, and mercy is pro-woman. That will in essence defeat abortion in our society.
Voices for Life 