Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst returned to the Senate floor at 3:01 a.m., banged the gavel and announced that, “regrettably, the constitutional time expired” on the special session. Senate Bill 5 cannot be signed because it passed after midnight, he said. [Statesman]
Sen. Wendy David led Texans in a feminist filibuster fight that beat the Republicans.
TEXAS REPUBLICANS disgraced themselves by supporting a piece of legislation that would have stripped the constitutional right to self-determination from women, especially in the rural prairies of Texas. Republicans proved through their actions that in Texas, freedom is just for men.
It seemed fitting that the same day Republicans gut the Voter Rights Act, in Texas, Republicans try to take the constitutional right to self-determination away from women. Lt. Gov. Dewhurst calling the people fighting for women’s rights an “unruly mob” reverberates as a perfect symbol of what Republicans think about women’s freedom.
Senator Wendy Davis led the courageous feminist filibuster fight, joined by her Democratic colleagues and backed by a chamber full of determined Texas voters, against majority Republicans who were hell bent on throwing every road block in the way of the fight for women’s freedom.
It wasn’t until the wee hours of the morning that the word came down from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst the efforts of Republicans had failed and the fight for freedom won by Democrats, voters and the thousands of people watching the spectacle through the night.
The Texas legislature’s special session ended in chaos and confusion early Wednesday, when a marathon filibuster failed — but so did a Republican effort to pass a bill that would have greatly restricted abortions in the state.
The Republican-dominated Senate needed to vote “yea” on the bill by midnight to send it to the governor to sign into law.
But at 3 a.m., Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst stepped to the Senate floor to declare the bill dead and the special session over.
[CNN]
There is little doubt that Gov. Rick Perry and the Republicans in Texas will not stop until a woman’s constitutional right to self-determination is stripped from the Lone Star State. A place that once symbolized the great freedoms of the west, but which today only apply to men.
No on SB5 graphic via DailyKos.
You’ve got to hand it to the women. This is the second time in as many months I wished women were running the show. Wendy Davis is a hero. If only Harry Reid had her spine and her conviction. I hope he was watching, maybe he’d learn something. Here’s another one. I despise just about everything for which Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer stands. But, for almost six years now, I have been waiting for Obama to play hardball or to exhibit the type of backbone she has shown below. Just once, against ANY opponent to achieve some desirable goal to… Read more »
Harry Reid is of another era.
Dems need a new majority leader, though they should first make sure they keep the Senate.
Ms davis is a hero…and an example to women and Americans who care about women. davis for Gov!!!!!!
Marcos Moulitsas did a post on Wendy Davis for governor today!
Republican law makers in Texas and other red states are truly a disgrace; trying to take away a woman’s right to decide what’s best for her own body, taking food out of hungry children’s mouths and making their parents suffer for it. Something must be done about the illegal gerrymandering that has stolen democracy from the voters. The power must be taken away from politicians; they can no longer be trusted to do the right thing
Very well said. You summed up pretty much everything I wanted to say, and did a better job of it then I would have. Kudos to you.
Gerrymandering is a top enemy of our democratic republic.