TW: This story contains an account of sexual violence.
Former Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards slammed abortion bans during Night 3 of the DNC, telling the story of a 12-year-old girl in Mississippi who had to carry her baby to term after she was raped.
"Because of her state's abortion ban, she started seventh grade with a newborn. That's the Republican promise of states' rights,” Richards said about the Mississippi girl on Wednesday night.
The girl, Ashley, said a stranger raped her in the yard of her family's home, ABC News reported. Mississippi bans abortions in almost all cases, although there are exceptions for rape and to save the life of the mother. But the girl’s mother said she was unaware her daughter qualified at the time due to confusion over what abortion care is allowed in the state.
Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal right to an abortion and leaving states to decide the issue, abortion is effectively completely banned in the entire Southeast United States.
