Thousands of pro-choice activists rallied in front of the Texas Capitol on Monday as the legislature reconvened to vote on new abortion legislation that would be among the most restrictive in the US.
Lawmakers on Monday began a second 30-day session to reconsider Senate Bill 5 after a daylong Senate filibuster stopped its passage last week. State Senator Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) stalled the measure, standing without food or water for hours as she spoke in support of abortion rights. Republicans were able to stop her filibuster and voted 19 to 10 to pass the bill, but screaming opponents prevented Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst from signing the bill and sending it to the governor before the midnight deadline.
The proposed bill would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and shut down most of the state’s clinics. Only five out of 42 clinics would be able to remain in operation, due to the bill’s provision that restricts the procedure to surgical centers.
After the filibuster and a raucous crowd effectively delayed the bill on June 25, Governor Rick Perry announced that he was calling lawmakers back for a second special session to reconsider the proposal
Angry protesters flooded a House committee meeting and rallied outside the Texas Capitol as one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bills advanced in the state legislature early Wednesday morning.
The Texas House committee voted to move forward with House Bill 2 – an identical version of the abortion legislation that was stalled last week by a filibuster. The bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and shut down 37 of the state’s 42 clinics.
More than 3,5000 people came to the Capitol to register their position to the bill and more than 2,000 signed up to testify on Tuesday, but the House State Affairs Committee approved the measure 8-3 after hearing from fewer than 100 people. The controversial bill will now move to the House of Representatives for consideration early next week.
Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) asked the committee chairman to allow more people to testify, but his request was denied.
“The people have the right to come here, and they have the right to be heard,” he said. Turner also made an attempt to amend the bill, which House State Affairs Chairman Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) also denied, telling him he “can bring it up on the House floor.”
Democratic lawmakers criticized Republicans for advancing the bill so quickly, despite the thousands of Texans who have protested against the law on the streets. Rep. Jessica Farrar told MSNBC that the actions of the Republicans were “politics at its worst.”
