Filibuster To Kill Texas Abortion Law Ended Three Hours Short

Fort Worth Democrat Wendy Davis, 50, seems to have fallen short of the 13 hours needed to complete the filibuster after doing 10 hours before the chairman ruled that she had gone off topic.

Davis took to the floor of the chamber late Tuesday morning to attempt a 13-hour filibuster to block the Texas Abortion Bill.

Rules called for her to stand, unaided, until midnight (1 am Wednesday ET), for the filibuster to succeed.

According to CNN at about 10 pm (11 pm ET), Davis talked about the abortion pill, RU-486, and the chairman ruled that her comments were off topic.

Davis was allowed three warnings before the Senate was to be allowed to vote on whether she must stop her filibuster.

She had already been warned once before of going off topic earlier in the day, and earlier in the evening, a fellow senator helped Davis put on a back brace, which angered some lawmakers who said it violated filibuster rules, according to CNN.

Davis had begun the filibuster by speaking for the families whose “”personal relationships with their doctor and their creator” would be violated by the bill.

Davis spoke up saying:

“These voices have been silenced by a governor who made blind partisanship and personal political ambition the official business of our great state.

“And sadly, he’s being abetted by legislative leaders who either share this blind partisanship or simply do not have the strength to oppose it.”

CNN reported that the Texas abortion bill has passed the state House of Representatives and that Governor Rick Perry has said he’ll sign it.

“In Texas, we value all life, and we’ve worked to cultivate a culture that supports the birth of every child,” Perry said. “We have an obligation to protect unborn children, and to hold those who peddle these abortions to standards that would minimize the death, disease and pain they cause.”

Abortion rights advocates were rallying behind Davis online, pushing the hashtag #standwithwendy on Twitter.

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement on the filibuster:

“Like never before, people in Texas are standing up to demand that politicians respect women’s ability to make our own personal medical decisions, and the whole country is watching,”

The Texas abortion bill has been a hot topic of discussion the past few days, it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

[Image via Huffington Post]