♪ this is "nightline." tonight, stolen childhood. a middle schooler raped at 12 and forced to have the baby. >> she's literally a little girl. and she was like a deer in the headlights. >> so what did you think when you realized your baby is going to have to deliver this baby? >> scared, sad.

>> trevor: the suspect in jail facing charges. why this young girl, who qualified for an abortion and did everything right, still couldn't get one in the state of mississippi. >> she didn't have to give birth. >> why doctors say she's not alone. plus -- >> one, two, three, four! >> trevor: the boss is back after a health scare and the loss of his mother. there will be no more lonesome days for a while. ♪ lonesome days ♪ >> trevor: for bruce springsteen and his e street band. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> trevor: and shaggy, mr. boombastic himself, getting lyrical in our interview. ♪ wasn't me ♪ >> trevor: the hidden message he thinks fans have missed in "inter"it wasn't me." >> you're in the club, you're drunk. you ain't listening to the end of the song. all in one and done with new mucinex kickstart.

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and for the community. -team! for all that is me, for all that is you. kaiser permanente. ♪ >> ashan: good evening and thank you for joining us. i'm trevor ault. tonight we take you to mississippi, ground zero in the battle over abortion rights and home to the case that led the supreme court to overturn roe v. wade. and in this post-roe world where doctors who perform abortions are threatened with jail time and losing their licenses, we meet the middle schooler who was raped and had to carry her baby

to term, becoming a mother at only 13 years old. here's abc's rachel scott, and we warn you, you may find this report disturbing. >> reporter: what do you like to do when you're out of school? >> get on my phone. tiktok. >> reporter: ashley is everything you think a typical seventh grader would be. ♪ but not everything is as it seems. at just 13 years old, ashley became a mom to a little baby boy nicknamed peanut. they've asked us not to show their faces or use their real names. tell me about what the last year has been like for you? >> um -- kind of good. but not that good, though. >> reporter: perhaps the understatement of the year, if you ask her mother who found out her daughter was pregnant by

rape. >> the nurse came in, the police came in. i'm like, what the hell? what is going on? >> reporter: as a mom, listening to your daughter describe, at 12 years old, that she was raped, did you think that there would be an option for you in this state? >> yes. a rape should be, like, you automatically -- you can have an abortion. you see this timid little girl. she's literally a little girl. and she was like a deer in the headlights. she had no idea what was going on. >> reporter: this young family story, now center stage in the raging debate after the overturning of roe v. wade. mississippi has banned abortion but does allow it in cases of rape. so by all the rules, ashley should have qualified for one. but here she is with an 8-month-old baby. why?

as states keep passing new abortion restrictions, rape victims are caught in a web of conflicting laws and confusion. left asking the question, what do i do? and often finding no answers. so what did you think when you realized that your baby is going to have to deliver this baby? >> she was scared. she was sad. she didn't want to go through it. >> that was probably one of those days that will just stick in my head forever. i'm sorry, i'm getting a little emotional. it's sad. i think about a woman, a girl, with no rights of her own, basically. she can't make a decision about her own body. >> reporter: since the fall of roe, the number of rape-related pregnancies in states with restrictions is in the tens of thousands. it's become a national

flashpoint. in some states with no or minimal exceptions for rape, politicians left defending those laws. >> texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of texas. >> god is perfect. god does not make mistakes. and for some reason, he allows that to happen. >> i think it could be fair to say there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about abortion across the country. >> happy. >> reporter: regina never imagined in her wildest dreams she would be a grandmother at 33 years old. it's been a really tough last year for you and your family? >> oh, yes, very tough. i ain't cried as much as i did last year. >> reporter: do you struggle to make ends regina has three kids, all girls. she holds down a job during the day and attends nursing school.

life was hard but doable. one of the poorest counties in the poorest ■state inthe country. that was, until late 2022 when her middle daughter, who we'll call ashley, started withdrawing. she quit the cheer team and stopped going outside. then ashley started getting sick. really sick. >> she ended up throwing up. she was throwing up a lot. took her to the hospital. they took her to the back. the nurse is like, "you're pregnant." that's what i broke down and started crying. baby, she don't know nothing about have nothing babies, nothing. >> reporter: there wasn't enough time for the shock to wear off before the next bomb hit. ashley said she had been raped by a stranger in her own yard. >> put his hands over her face, over her mouth, and took her to the side of the house, to the back, and stuck his -- then i was like, that's rape.

she didn't know him. she didn't know his name, nothing. >> reporter: to hear what she's describing at 12 years old? >> i was hurt, baby. my heart broke. >> i was on call at the hospital. >> reporter: dr. erika ballthrop is a board-certified ob-gyn, one of only seven in the mississippi delta region. >> i performed the ultrasound, and the two of them watching it together, tears just streaming down their face. 11 weeks. >> 11 weeks. i asked about options. what the options -- abortion? she said, the closest one is in chicago. i said, chicago? that's like $800, $1,500 to have an abortion up there. i had to drive, had to leave work -- i can't afford that. >> reporter: since the fall of roe, all the states surrounding mississippi instituted similar

bans and restrictions. some without rape exceptions at all. abortion access basically disappeared across the whole region. >> none in tennessee. none next door in arkansas. none next door in alabama. none. >> reporter: so the only option for a woman that can afford to travel is to travel hundreds of miles away? >> take off work, find a sitter, do what they have to do. >> reporter: while mississippi law does include that exception for rape, those cases must be documented with law enforcement. ashley's rape was reported to police, but with so much confusion about the laws, regina didn't know they could use that to ask for help. even finding a doctor to do an abortion would be a challenge. >> she was failed by the system because she had a rape that she actually reported. physicians have so much at stake in terms of losing their medical license, financial penalties, in

some cases, criminalization leading to jail time. >> if you meet the exception and you can afford to still get an abortion in this state, where do you go? you can go to any ob-gyn office if they're willing. >> reporter: if they are willing? >> the provider has to be willing. most people wouldn't do it, here in this state. they would refer you out. >> reporter: do you believe that these laws are designed to make it nearly impossible, even for a victim of rape, to have access to an abortion? >> it's a loaded question. yeah, i do. i do. >> reporter: the numbers back that up. in 2021, there were about 3,800 abortions provided in mississippi. but the mississippi department of health says that in all of 2023, there were only four abortion exceptions granted in the entire state. they did not track whether any of those were cases of rape.

we reached out to a number of mississippi hospitals to ask about protocol and rape exceptions. none wanted to comment specifically. yet the numbers also show across the 14 states that restricted abortion, researchers estimated using historical data there may have been nearly 65,000 pregnancies caused by rape. >> the reality is that rapes are underreported. and so when you have a situation where you have an abortion ban that requires a report, women are much less likely to use that pathway to get an abortion when they feel that they need one. >> reporter: we wanted to ask lawmakers in mississippi about cases like ashley's. we repeatedly reached out to the office of governor tate reaves and to several state lawmakers, including some who had talked about eliminating the rape exception. we also reached out to mississippi senators and representatives in washington. none responded. regina decided to keep her daughter's pregnancy private,

homeschooling ashley. then over the summer of 2023, after turning 13, she gave birth to a son. >> shouldn't have to do this. it's not her time to go through this. they took my child's innocence. >> reporter: police arrested the accused rapist last year, using the baby's dna to prove the link. he remains behind bars charged with felony rape. was that any sort of relief? >> yes. it's justice, baby. >> reporter: regina says her priority now is making sure her daughter can still an kid, which means raising her grandson herself. did ashley start to realize what had just happened in this situation? >> ashley knows she had a baby. i let her be a child. so i raise him. >> reporter: when ashley arrives fresh off the school bus, she jumps in to help.

but even just helping is a lot for a kid. describe what your typical day is like. you mentioned you go to school, then you come home and -- changing diapers, making bottles? >> i like to stay busy. >> reporter: busy between homework, taking care of the baby? >> he can an lot. feed him, take his bath. >> reporter: you've got a lot going on. >> yes, a lot. >> reporter: they want the world to know the real-world impacts of laws like these on real families like theirs. should your daughter, who told you she was raped at 12 years old, have had to give birth? >> no, ma'am. she didn't have to give birth to your rapist's child. >> what are your hopes for ashley? >> she wanted to be a nurse. i'm going to continue raising the baby, let her finish her childhood. i want her to go to college. be that nurse. get me up that hill.

>> trevor: our thanks to rachel. we shift gearsone on one with shaggy, who says joining the marines during the persian gulf war actuall helped shape his reggae sound. with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. relieve fatigue... and stop further joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur.

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- listening to people that drink bigelow tea is so important to my family, because making that perfect cup, it's the reason we do what we do hi, guys! - hi! - hey! - so what are you guys drinking? - constant comment. - when i'm drinking bigelow tea, it's just a moment for me. it's just me time. - that's what a cup of tea is. - it is. - a moment for you, someone you love. - aw! (customer sighs) - it tastes really great. - yes! it was always bigelow tea - wow! that's what my family hopes for. cheers. - cheers. (bright upbeat music) ♪ >> trevor: welcome back. shaggy's epic hit "it wasn't me" earned him a place in music history. the worm helped the grammy award-winner sell more than 40 million albums worldwide, and now more than two decades after hit, the reggae pioneer is back with new music. he sat down with abc's ashan

singh. >> reporter: mr. bombastic, shaggy, welcome back to "nightline," how's it going? >> thanks for having me, it's good. >> reporter: before we get started, you were born in kingston, moved to brooklyn when you were 18 with your mom, which is where you enlisted in the marines, am i correct? >> yeah, i went into the corps. i didn't know what i was getting into, i just needed to get out of brooklyn at that time. i was hanging with the wrong people, doing the wrong things. i got in four years. i was in the first gulf. . one of those things. it was a wakeup call. >> reporter: it influenced your sound a bit? >> they used to call us out and we did those, we wanted to motivate the marines on long runs. sometimes three-mile runs. especially when we have uniform, boots, all that. i'd come on and sing. ♪ i don't know but i been told ♪ ♪ my ceo is pantyhose i'd make these funny cadences. you know, that actually was

voice training by running so many miles, singing from the gut. you know, i just used that voice because the drill instructors, "drop and give me 20. don't eyeball me, boy." i would mock them as comedy, you know. and everybody in the platoon, you know, they'll get a kick out of it. >> reporter: asking quickly about "it wasn't me," i've heard it's been misinterpreted for years? >> absolutely. ♪ wasn't me ♪ >> you think, it's the cheating song. it's the anti-cheating song because at the end there's an apology. nobody listens to hear the guy say, "sorry for the things that i've done." ♪ you may think that you're a player but you're completely lost ♪ it's saying, you're an idiot. i'm going to apologize to my chicken. what you're saying is nuts. >> reporter: so we've actually got it wrong for years? >> because you in the club and you're drunk, you don't reach

out to the end of the song. >> reporter: i want to talk about your newest track "when she's around." let's hear a clip. ♪ ♪ things cross the line ♪ ♪ likes to control me friend and foe she wore me ♪ ♪ me and my one and only ♪ >> reporter: this track is with east african sensation rwandan bruce melody? >> bruce melody, east africa. he told me, when i was 13 years old, i played the state of kigali and he snuck in. couldn't afford the tickets. he watched me perform, "one day i would love to be on stage with shaggy" or something like that, and here we are. >> reporter: you brought reggae to new heights. what's it been like to be able to bring reggae to such an international stage, and what do you say to reggae purists who can be critical sometimes? >> well, they can be critical. i can't do a song like my heroes the same way heroes.

you know? bob marley. so for me i have to create a hybrid to make my own mark. that's what "oh carolina" is. ♪ oh chairman line that ♪ >> we did it again with "angel." and "wasn't me." and also "the hotshot" album. i don't worry about the critics and the purists. >> reporter: you said there's a lot of new music coming out. you've got a sirius xm radio show. are you slowing down at all? >> no. i do this for the love. two channels, one of them is shaggy's "bombastic." we're in good company. we use the platform to highlight and showcase our culture. >> reporter: appreciate you for your time, man. >> thanks, man. >> reporter: this was awesome. listen to "when she's around" andal your shaggy hits wherever you get your music. >> trevor: our thanks to ashan. "when she's around" is out now.

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♪ >> trevor: finally tonight, the boss is back. >> one, two, three, four! >> trevor: kicking off his tour in phoenix, bruce springsteen and the e street band playing nearly three hours to a sold-out crowd, 29 classics and hits like "lonesome day." ♪ gotta get through this lonesome day. >> trevor: fans cheering his return after time off following health issues and the recent death of bruce's biggest fan, his 98-year-old mother. the boss telling fans to come prepared. ♪ better than one ♪