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Texist GOP fails to pass their abortion bill, for now

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Well I don’t know about you folks, but I found the news to be a skoch confusing this morning. Last I checked before bed, we were all #stand[ing]withwendy and she was nearing the end her filibuster. First thing I see this morning is,


And then after a little poking around, I find this:


Now if you’re wondering “wtf” you are not alone. Here’s the dish.

At issue is the Republican abortion bill which would effectively shut down all clinics in Texas. Using typical Republican tactics, the bill creates a legal environment which makes it nearly impossible for these clinics to operate. It doesn’t say “we’re closing all of the clinics” because then the “DID YOU ACTUALLY READ THE BILL, LIBERAL?!?!” strategy wouldn’t work. It requires a bit of nuance and context to figure this out, and that’s not really their thing. They’re more of a simple folk.

As in most of the US, Democrats have an artificial and manufactured minority in the state legislature. (Ambivalent Democrats + angry racists = RedMap). Which means options were limited as to how to defeat this crazy ass restriction on women’s health. State Senator Wendy Davis filibustered the bill, starting at 11:18 yesterday. She had to speak until the end of the 30 day special session, which came at midnight last night. Texist rules require that the Senator stay on topic, stand for the entire time, no leaning, etc., and not receive help from anyone. And she almost made it the full 13 hours.

Sometime after 10pm the Republicans decided she went off topic, and as this was her 3rd alleged violation of the aforementioned filibuster rules, they were able to end the filibuster with a majority vote. Around midnight things get a little fuzzy. State troopers entered the chambers, the abortion bill was passed after midnight by a voice vote that no one heard, and then the clocks were turned back so that it looked like it happened before the end of session.

Editor’s note: Normally when we say Texist turned back the clock, it’s just a metaphor. So yesterday was really a big day for them.


Alright so chaos reigned for a bit. And then,

But at 3 a.m., Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the presiding officer of the Senate and a Republican supporter of the bill, told lawmakers and reporters that although the bill passed on a 19 to 10 vote, the bill could not be signed in the presence of the Senate and was therefore dead, blaming “an unruly mob using Occupy Wall Street tactics” as the primary cause.

“With all the ruckus and noise going on,” Mr. Dewhurst said, he could not complete administrative duties to make the vote official and sign the bill. Senate Democrats and women’s right’s advocates said the real reason the vote could not be made official was a time stamp on official documents that showed the bill passed after midnight.

Lol at the emphasis on Occupy Wall Street tactics.

So that happened.

Wendy Davis’ website is here. And it’s also available en Espanol, which must really piss off the Republicans :D

Maddow Blog has more info here.

ps You know the Republicans are going to come back into session immediately in order to pass the bill. To do otherwise would be to respect the rules. And what are the odds?

pps. vagina.

Update: CBS News offers this:

Initially, Republicans insisted the vote started before the midnight deadline and passed the bill that Democrats spent the day trying to kill. But after official computer records and printouts of the voting record showed the vote took place Wednesday, and then were changed to read Tuesday, senators retreated into a private meeting to reach a conclusion.

Thus confirming the GOP attempt to cheat.


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