A 22-year-old girl who grew to become an abortion rights advocate after being raped by her stepfather as a toddler tells her story in a brand new marketing campaign advert for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Hadley Duvall says in a voiceover that she has by no means slept a full night time in her life — her stepfather started abusing her when she was 5 and bought her pregnant when she was 12. As she speaks, pictures of Duvall as a toddler seem on the display screen. The advert’s soundtrack is a track by Billie Eilish, who endorsed the vice chairman on Tuesday.
“I keep in mind considering I needed to get out of my pores and skin. I couldn’t be myself at that second. I couldn’t be like that,” Duvall says. “I didn’t know what to do. I used to be a child. I didn’t know in any respect what it meant to be pregnant. However I had choices.”
The advert is a part of an ongoing effort by Harris’ marketing campaign to spotlight the rising penalties of Roe’s downfall, together with the truth that some states have abortion restrictions with no exceptions for rape or incest. Ladies in some states are affected by more and more harmful well being care, and this week noticed the primary case of a girl dying from delays in reproductive care. Harris locations the blame squarely on Republican nominee Donald Trump, who appointed three of the conservatives to the U.S. Supreme Court docket who helped overturn the constitutional proper to abortion.
“As a result of Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, women and girls throughout the nation have misplaced the appropriate to decide on, even within the case of rape or incest,” the advert says. “Donald Trump did this. He took our freedom away.”
Throughout the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Trump repeatedly took credit score for appointing the three Supreme Court docket justices and leaned closely on his common response to questions on abortion rights, saying the problem ought to be left to the states. He mentioned he wouldn’t signal a nationwide abortion ban.
“I can’t signal any ban,” he mentioned, including that “there isn’t any cause to signal the ban.”
However he additionally repeatedly declined to say whether or not he would veto such a ban if elected once more, a query that has endured because the Republican nominee has shifted his stances on the essential election challenge.
Duvall, of Owensboro, Kentucky, first advised her story publicly final fall in a marketing campaign advert for her house state’s gubernatorial race, supporting Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Duvall’s stepfather was convicted of rape and is in jail; she suffered a miscarriage.
Beshear gained re-election and Democrats mentioned Duvall’s announcement was a robust motivator, significantly for rural and male voters who had beforehand voted for Trump.
Duvall can be touring the nation to marketing campaign for Harris alongside different ladies who’ve been telling their private tales since Roe fell, becoming a member of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro final week.