and anna konkle from "pen 15," and music from chiiild. "nightline" is next. thank you for watching, goodnight. this is "nightline." tonight, going off script. the young texas woman going viral, using her valedictory address to speak her mind against the state's new restrictive abortion law. >> there is a war on my body and war on my rights. >> we're in the lone star state this weekend as both sides of the issue come face-to-face. do you ever feel like you're going to change hearts and minds, though? plus, america's newest royal, lilibeth. the latest addition to meghan and harry's growing family, named in honor of the queen and princess diana. her young life already breaking with tradition. and fantastic voyage. the world's richest man is going sightseeing in space. >> "nightline" will be right

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thanks for joining us. you know, a lot has happened since paxton smith took a bold stand for reproductive rights at her high school graduation speech. we spent time in texas talking to young activists on both ends of the abortion debate. >> not going back, we're not

going back! we're not going back! we're not going back! >> paxton smith is a rookie when it comes to abortion rights rallies. >> i'm furious as children, we're the ones advocating for our rights. >> reporter: in less than a week, this 18-year-old catapulted on to center stage of america's fiercest fight in politics. already she's feeling the heat from the other side. >> we are the pro-life generation and we will abolish abortion. >> young anti-abortion rights activists like sarah zarr are just as energized. so your goal is to end abortion full stop? >> we want to make abortion illegal and unthinkable in our lifetime. >> reporter: it was this high school graduation speech that brought both sides to the texas state capitol. >> i have dreams and hopes and ambitions. every girl graduating today does. >> in front of a crowd of thousands, the dallas area

valedictorian swapping out her preapproved speech for a heartfelt plea. >> i am terrified that if my contraceptives fail, i'm terrified that if i am raped, then my hopes and aspirations and dreams and efforts for my future will no longer matter. >> paxton denouncing texas' brand-new law criminalizing abortions at around six weeks, long before most women even know they're pregnant. >> with every sentence, it was kind of like a little milestone. okay, whoa, i just made it through that sentenc. i just got through another sentence. >> because you thought they were going to cut the mic? >> absolutely. >> i hope that you can feel how gut-wrenching that is. i hope you can feel how dehumanizing it is to have the autonomy over your own body taken away from you. >> towards the end of the speech, i looked to the side and there was a lady standing on the stage, and she was going like this very aggressively, which my guess is that was a signal to

cut the microphone. >> paxton part of the youngest generation joining the age old battle over abortion in america. you knew you were breaking the rules. >> yes. i was definitely afraid of any backlash, but at the end of the day, it felt like it was the right thing to do to make that speech. and i want was something that had to be said. >> reporter: the new texas law was signed just weeks ago by governor greg abbott. banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected. >> at that age there might be electrical impulses, but it's not a heart beat. i think they use that on purpose to pull at people's heart strings. >> reporter: the law does not make exceptions for rape or incest, and it allows lawsuits to be filed by anyone and against anyone who helps a woman get an abortion. the physician, the person who pays for the procedure, even someone who simply drives the woman to the appointment. >> i said okay, i have this platform that nobody else has. i need to speak up.

>> paxton's speech striking a nerve, going viral online. shared by women and teens everywhere. including hillary clinton. >> that's when i got an inkling that this was going to go very far. >> afterwards, even when she says her diploma was threatend, she stood firm. >> i wasn't afraid. how can i regret doing the right thing? >> paxton's stepmom says she raised her daughter to think for herself. >> i do think there is this outside perception that oh, there must be adults manipulating the situation. >> have you met paxton? absolutely not. paxton has always been -- she marches to her own drum and drumbeat. >> we are -- >> but there are plenty who are challenging paxton's convictions. 22-year-old melanie salazar is marching for students for life. >> abortion -- >> counter protesting here and roughly a thousand campuses from middle schools to colleges across the country. do you feel like there is a point to being a counter

protester? >> we show up, we can show there is another side and start dialogue and a conversation. >> do you ever feel you're going change hearts and minds, though, bullhorns? >> yeah, i definitely don't think a rally or a protest is the place to try to have dialogue. it's more of the place to make a statement. >> i first melanie last fall when she was part of scota squad, rallying for the nomination of amy coney barrett to the supreme court. >> we're excited for our girl amy to come. >> what does that mean to you in terms of being at the confirmation hearing? >> we wanted it confirmed and ideally we want her to be a part of overturning roe v. wade. >> melanie says she's lost friends over her stance on abortion. >> people may just lump someone into a category of you are pro-life equals you are also x, y, and z, and also somehow means they forget the rest of my identity, which like i like horror movies, and like to

dance, and i love roller skating. >> thank you. >> paxton smith. she is in many ways has gone viral because there is this sense that young people today are in favor of abortion rights. i take it you disagree with that notion? >> actually, the young people have been the ones here 8:00 a.m. to almost midnight. and i never saw the pro-abortion advocates who i saw today at the capitol. >> she also raised concerns about the fact there is no carve-out for rape or incest. >> i'm actually a survivor of sexual abuse. and so the truth is that abortion on top of rape and trauma on top of trauma leads to more hurt and needs more healing. and it takes longer than nine months to heal from an abortion. > if you had gotten pregnant, you would be okay with having carried out a pregnancy and carrying that child to term? >> yeah. the way how i see it is that abortion is the greatest form of child abuse. and i would want any form of

punishment to be put on the perpetrator and no an innocent human being. >> and yet more young people tend to be in favor of reproductive freedoms than not. in fact, 61% of 18 to 29-year-olds support abortion rights, the highest percentage of support since 1995. >> stand up. >> fight back! >> kids are jumping into the fray at younger age, in part because of social media. >> may i introduce to you miss vienna. >> meet vienna, the 12-year-old behind this rally. she may need an assist to reach the microphone, but needs no help speaking her mind. >> never in a million years would i have imagined organizing a rally to protest something that should be a basic human right. >> this sixth grader is inspired by paxton's courage. >> you must be wondering why a 12-year-old girl is leading this march. according to kids health, most girls get their period between 10 and 15. so what that means is 10 and

15-year-olds can in fact get pregnant. >> vienna and her mom are well aware that in a traditionally conservative state like texas -- >> and women deserve better! >> backlash is a reality. >> i don't want to show my face because some anti-abortionists are very violent and aggressive. >> do you understand how aggressive and inappropriate this is when this is a 12-year-old who organized this rally? i think you guys can have your own rally another time. thinking woman is touching my property. please let go of my property. >> young people are -- >> amy is an abortion rights activist and grew up deeply familiar with the risks that come with it. >> my dad was an abortion provider who wore a kevlar vest to work. he knew how important it was for people to be able to control their bodies, to be able to control their futures. >> texas has been at the heart of this culture war for half a century. >> power to the women! >> it's where the landmark roe v. wade case originated in 1970.

a 2013 law that restricted how abortion clinics could operate resulted in the closure of nearly half of texas' clinics before it was struck down by the supreme court in 2016. >> people have gotten kind of complacent about the fact that states are chipping away at the rights. in texas we have over 28 restrictions. >> texas' new abortion law is unlikely to be overturned at this point. but it may also be difficult to enforce. if we do see this law go into effect, we could well i think see the courts in texas clogged up with these kinds of lawsuits. and equally importantly, we could see abortion providers in texas deterred from even performing abortions. >> this bill is enforced by any person that feels like someone has aided and abetted abortion care. and that means just any person off the street. >> regardless of what happens in texas, a bigger battle looms on the horizon. next year, the u.s. supreme

court set to take up a mississippi law that would ban virtually all abortions after 15 weeks. the case out of mississippi is not as extreme a ban as the texas ban. so if the supreme court upholds that mississippi law, i think it's going to be the end of the roe era in many respects. >> i think that it's really scary because we don't know what a 6-3 anti-abortion majority will do, despite the fact that there are 50 years of precedent protecting abortion rights. >> 50 years, as well as popular support across the country. six in every ten americans favor upholding roe v. wade. as paxton's speech continues to reverberate, her school district says they will review student speech protocols ahead of future graduations, and that valedictorian speeches don't reflect the coschool's positionr that of its employees. as for paxton, she's growing into her new identity as a leader and a role model. >> she's got it.

>> sometimes it feels like no one is listening because you're so young, but you took advantage of your young voice and you put this entire thing together. and that takes a lot of courage. >> you're never too young to be the change you want to see in the world. >> coming up, america's newest royal baby. truthfully, it's frustrating to see how fast dust reappears. but dusting with a cloth is a pain. and dealing with a bulky vacuum.. . is such a hassle. uchhh!!! so now we use our swiffer sweeper and dusters. the fluffy fibers? they pick up dust easily. grabbing it in all those hard-to-reach places. gotcha!!! and for our floors, sweeper's textured cloths lock all kinds of dirt, dust and pet hair. unlike my vacuum, it sneaks under and around places. look at that!! dust free and hassle free. stop cleaning and start swiffering. jason, did you know geico could save you hundreds on car insurance and a whole lot more? cool. so what are you waiting for?

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charting their own course. here is abc's maggie rulli. >> an american royal baby girl. lilibet diana mountbatten-windsor, the first senior royal born in the u.s. named for two women who have had a tremendous impact. nicknamed lilibet as a little girl, and of course his mother diana. the royal family celebrating the birth of lili on social media. along with celebrities like ellen degeneres. no picture of the newest royal yet, a contrast to when her father was born. september 15th, 1984. prince henry charles albert david, the second son of the prince of wales was presented to the world. so many photos of the young harry also feature his mother, diana. the pair inseparable. meanwhile, across the pond, rachel meghan markle was

fortunate to have a strong mother as well. born august 4th, 1981 in l.a. by the time she was 6, her parents had divorced. she went to live with her mother, doria, a yoga instructor and social worker who taught her to stand up for herself. in the march interview with oprah, meghan seemingly holding nothing back, including her stunning claim aboving archie. >> so we have in tandem the conversation of he won't be given security. he is not going to be given a title. and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he is born. >> the first biracial senior royal that should have been celebrated for those reasons, but came under questioning and scrutiny because of the potential shade of his skin color. and no doubt whoever made those comments will still have the same concerns or thoughts about harry and meghan's second child.

>> so you can see why harry and meghan, there is still going to be that distance between themselves and the institution. >> i think there has been a lot of hurt caused on both sides. i think the way that harry and meghan conducted their interview made it very clear how much anger, how much hurt, how much frustration they still felt i think all this time after leaving. >> some were hopeful, thought out of the broken ties and tensions among the brothers a stronger bond could emerge. >> remember in 2019, the two princes were playing at a polo charity event, and the duchess of sussex with archie as well as the duchess of cambridge and her kids were all pictured together having a wonderful time. and there was so much hope that this would sort of set the tone, that we were going get more images like this, this one big happy family. and sadly, that didn't turn out

to be. but who knows what happens? maybe the birth of a new baby, an addition to the royal family might bring them closer together, the brothers. >> i have the two best guys in the world. so i'm really happy. >> thrilled to have our little bundle of joy. >> free from duty, archie and his baby sister will lead american live, leaving uk for the surf and sands of sunny california,ing? harry tells oprah he is enjoying with his son. >> i guess the highlight for me is sticking him on the back of the bicycle in his little baby seat and take him on his bike rides, which is something i never was able to do when i was young. i can see him on the back, and he's got his arms out and he is woo, chatting, chatting, chatting, palm tree, house. >> harry and meghan have been fiercely protective, only releasing obscure images of him

on his recent second birthday. >> they i think are very keen for their children to grow up without the pressure of the spotlight. they're very fiercely pushing back on any unsolicited images or anything that they feel does not give them control over what they want to put out there of their family. >> they appear to have plans to steer archie and his sister lili toward choosing their own destinies in or outside of royal life. >> had harry and meghan stayed in the uk and continued life as working members of the royal family, i think archie and their daughter would have struggled to find purpose as they grew up. so now archie and his sister are being raised in a world in which the possibilities are endless. >> i think the duchess of sussex is waiting so that she can instill all her beliefs in. i really do. i think that's exactly what's going to happen.

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and finally tonight, blastoff for jeff bezos, and he

is taking someone special along for the ride. the amazon founder and richest man in the world announcing that he and his brother are taking a trip into space next month in a rocket made by his company, blue origin. an len-minute flight 60 miles above the earth. there is one seat still available on the flight going to the winner of an auction where bidding is approaching the stratospheric, already in the millions of dollars. and that's "nightline" for tonight. you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.