Failed Texas Abortion Bill Gets Second Special Session By Governor Perry’s Order
After a controversial abortion bill in Texas failed to pass following a dramatic special session of the state legislature Tuesday, the state’s governor, Rick Perry, has called for another session to pass the bill.
The bill failed after Texas legislature failed to pass a vote following a lengthy filibuster. Democratic state senator Wendy Davis’ dramatic one-woman stand managed to hold off the vote until the deadline was missed at midnight.
Davis has become an instant icon of the pro-choice movement overnight.
Believing the bill may still succeed, AP reports that on Wednesday Governor Perry ordered Texas state lawmakers to meet again on July 1 for another special session. The controversial bill will again come to a vote.
The bill garnered a great deal of attention, initially, for attempting to introduce state laws that would become among the most limiting abortion restrictions in the union.
It would also herald a major victory for anti-abortion advocates if the second largest state in the US were to adopt such laws.
The laws would directly contradict the federal case of Roe v. Wade in which abortions were ruled to be under the protection of the federal government. Effectively, if the new bill were to pass, nearly all abortion clinics would be closed in Texas.
As Davis’ filibuster approached the midnight deadline, with almost two hours remaining, Republicans attempted to force a vote. Claiming Davis had violated filibuster rules, an order for voting was issued but was not completed in time.
As the head of the anti-abortion coalition in the Texas state senate, Republican Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst was quoted by Reuters, saying he would “pledge to Texas one thing: This fight is far from over.”
Speaking on the importance of defeating the controversial bill, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis called on her own experiences as a young single mother.
She explained during her filibuster that she was “a poor, uninsured woman whose only care was provided through [Planned Parenthood]” and that the new Texas abortion bill would have restricted that access.
[Image via Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com]
