Hadley Duvall shares her story in a Kamala Harris ad

WASHINGTON –

Warning: disturbing content

A 22-year-old woman who became an abortion rights advocate after being raped by her stepfather as a child tells her story in a new campaign ad for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Hadley Duvall says in a voiceover that she has never slept a full night in her life — her stepfather began abusing her when she was five and got her pregnant when she was 12. As she speaks, images of Duvall as a child appear on the screen. The ad’s soundtrack is a song by Billie Eilish, who endorsed the vice president on Tuesday.

“I remember thinking I had to get out of my skin. I couldn’t be myself at that moment. I couldn’t be like that,” Duvall says. “I didn’t know what to do. I was a kid. I didn’t know at all what it meant to be pregnant. But I had options.”

The ad is part of an ongoing effort by Harris’ campaign to highlight the growing consequences of Roe’s downfall, including the fact that some states have abortion restrictions with no exceptions for rape or incest. Women in some states are suffering from increasingly dangerous health care, and this week saw the first case of a woman dying from delays in reproductive care. Harris places the blame squarely on Republican nominee Donald Trump, who appointed three of the conservatives to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion.

Duvall also blames Trump.

“Because Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, girls and women across the country have lost the right to choose, even in the case of rape or incest,” the ad says. “Donald Trump did this. He took our freedom away.”

During the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Trump repeatedly took credit for appointing the three Supreme Court justices and leaned heavily on his general response to questions about abortion rights, saying the issue should be left to the states. He said he would not sign a national abortion ban.

“I will not sign any ban,” he said, adding that “there is no reason to sign the ban.”

But he also repeatedly declined to say whether he would veto such a ban if elected again, a question that has persisted as the Republican nominee has shifted his stances on the crucial election issue.

Duvall, of Owensboro, Kentucky, first told her story publicly last fall in a campaign ad for her home state’s gubernatorial race, supporting Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Duvall’s stepfather was convicted of rape and is in prison; she suffered a miscarriage.

Beshear won re-election and Democrats said Duvall’s announcement was a strong motivator, particularly for rural and male voters who had previously voted for Trump.

Duvall is also touring the country to campaign for Harris alongside other women who have been telling their personal stories since Roe fell, joining Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro last week.