I was raped as a child. Abortion bans in Kentucky and Tennessee mean girls like me have no choice

I found out I was pregnant after being raped at age 12. I was just a child. It was horrible. I continue to advocate because it would have been much worse if I had been a little girl in that situation, having to do what the politicians dictate. That is exactly what is happening right now to thousands of girls and women here in Kentucky and in every state with strict abortion bans, including Tennessee.

I don’t have many memories of the time before my stepfather started his abusive behavior. I vividly remember leaving middle school early one day to take a pregnancy test and turning it over on the bathroom counter because I was too scared to look. I remember finding out I was pregnant in 7th grade and feeling completely alone in the world.

I would love to tell that scared 12-year-old that she’s going to be OK. She’s going to play college soccer, be an All-American cheerleader, adopt the sweetest dog in the world named Honey, be the first person in her family to graduate from college, and prepare for graduate school so she can help other survivors. But I will always heal. I can’t stop thinking about another 12-year-old girl like me who has no choice.

Support mothers who have chosen to have an abortion: Law will punish doctors who save women’s lives through abortion

At least when I was that scared little girl, I had a choice. Roe v. Wade was still the law of the land. I didn’t have to carry that pregnancy to term. I had a miscarriage, but even if I hadn’t, the idea of ​​politicians forcing me to give birth to my rapist’s baby would be unbearable.

Dobbs triggered abortion bans in Tennessee and other states

Monday, June 24, marks the second anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, and as a result, 13 states, including Kentucky, have these extreme bans in place without exception.

Last legislative session, I had the honor of introducing Hadley’s Bill in Kentucky. It would have made exceptions to the state’s abortion ban for survivors like me. This year, it never even got a hearing in the Kentucky legislature. In fact, it never even got assigned to a committee. I can’t tell you how frustrating and heartbreaking that was.

I’m excited to travel to Tennessee this week with Governor Andy Beshear – another state with an extreme, no-exceptions ban. He understands that women and girls need choices and that these laws are cruel and inhumane.

I always say I’m not for abortion, I’m for minding your own business. I ask for basic compassion and empathy.

Looking for commonalities: Bill Lee of Tennessee and Andy Beshear of Kentucky are rivals. They should work together.

I ask people, as they go to the polls in November, to think of the survivors and what overturning Roe will mean for the lives of real women and girls.

It matters who we vote for. I could be your sister, niece, cousin, friend, daughter or granddaughter. As it has now been nearly two years since Roe was overturned, I ask you to really think about what that meant and what a nationwide ban on voting could mean. And vote accordingly.

Hadley Duvall is an activist for women’s empowerment! In the last election, she took to the public stadium for Governor Andy Beshear and became the poster girl for reproductive rights in the state of Kentucky.

This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Is abortion legal in Tennessee? Statewide bans leave women with few options