Tag Archives: Wendy Davis Filibuster

Texas Politics

Federal Judge Blocks Major Provision of Texas Anti-Abortion Law

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HUGE news from Texas yesterday, as the mega-controversial HB2, Texas’ 2013 law which was set to close all but 7 comprehensive women’s health facilities in the state, is given a major rebuke.  Here’s the story from the Houston Chronicle…

AUSTIN – A federal judge struck down a key piece of Texas’s tough new abortion law Friday afternoon, just three days before its implementation was expected to force all but seven clinics in the state to close.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that requiring abortion facilities to comply with the standards of ambulatory surgical centers would reduce access so much that it would put an unconstitutional burden on Texas women seeking the procedure.

“The ambulatory-surgical-center requirement is unconstitutional because it imposes an undue burden on the right of women throughout Texas to seek a previabilty abortion,” Yeakel ruled, blocking enforcement of the requirement scheduled to take effect Monday.

The ruling represents a major victory for a coalition of abortion providers who challenged the law, but it may be a short-lived triumph. The case is expected to be appealed, and the providers will have to hope to avoid a repeat of last fall, when Yeakel struck down a different part of the law only to have his decision quickly reversed by the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Ultimately, both cases could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who knows what the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will do at this point.  But it is good to know that the lower court has once again sided with the right of Texas women to have the healthcare that they choose.

Everyone is fixated strictly on the abortion aspect of these cases… HB2’s whole purpose was to virtually eliminate abortion in only the largest of Texas cities.  But just as important here is the fact that these clinics offer comprehensive healthcare in their communities… not just abortions.  If these doctors have to shut their doors, it endangers the very lives of Texas women.  Without a community health provider to go to, are these women supposed to just put off their yearly check-ups?  Does the legislature expect someone living in McAllen or Pharr to make an expensive trip to San Antonio every year just for a well-woman exam?

It’s these very arguments that Democrats in the Texas legislature made sure to point out last summer as HB2 was being hotly debated, almost crafting a court case against the law before it was even passed. Hopefully the Fifth Circuit will look at all the evidence as well if this decision is appealed.  But for now, Texas women can be thankful that some clinics will remain open.

Texas Politics

How ‘The People’s Filibuster’ Changed Texas Politics

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Everyday on this planet, people experience a defining moment in their life… a marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, starting college, a new job… these events are significant to that individual, and the close family and friends around them.  Then there are even rarer occasions where we experience a defining moment as a collective, like the tragedy of 9-11 or Barack Obama’s election in 2008.  Once the moment happens, things as we know them are different.

That defining moment in recent Texas politics was not an election or a tragedy, but was generated from one state legislator taking a stand.  One year ago, State Senator Wendy Davis stood on the floor of the Senate for 11 hours in an epic filibuster against SB 5… a bill to severely limit access to women’s healthcare.  In a pair of pink Mizuno sneakers, she stood and talked while the world watched the dastardly GOP senators did everything they could to take her down.  That in fact is how Davis’ filibuster ended… claiming that she had failed to stand up properly 2 hours short of running out the clock on Texas’ legislative session.  But rather than give up, Texas’ Democratic Senators unleashed a slew of tactics to keep the delay going.  Finally at the end of the night, with 15 minutes left on the clock, one insult to Senator Leticia Van de Putte unleashed a fire from the gallery… Hundreds of women’s rights supporters cheered, and stomped and clapped until the Legislative Session ran out.  Davis’ original Filibuster was completed by the people of Texas.  To the Republican plans to harm women’s rights, the people said NO.

Like typical Texas Republicans, Governor Perry called a Special Session and they passed their heinous bill anyway.  But even as the GOP won a fierce battle, they simultaneously started a war with Texas voters on both sides, flooded Democratic coffers with new money sources, and elevated Senators Davis and Van de Putte to national stardom.  That’s the main way that Texas politics has changed since June 25th, 2013. Democrats now have real press power.  Gone are the days when a Democratic candidate would be wholly ignored by statewide media, or when someone like Rick Perry could laugh off the notion of a general election debate.  Republicans may still control Texas politics, but the sense of Absolute Monarchy has been “Magna-Carted” off to the ol’ dusty trail.  Now, at the very least in Texas, Democrats MUST be heard.

So the question remains… can Democrats use that bully pulpit effectively?  On this front, the results have so far been mixed.  Certainly not an indictment of Top-Tier candidates, but a clear sign that they’re still much newer to the statewide game than their GOP counterparts.  Much to the dismay of her supporters, Davis has run into trouble about how to immortalize this moment’s history herself, running away from the abortion issue almost as fast as her opponent runs from all the legal cases he files and then forgets about in public.  (By the way… whatever happened to the safe, legal and rare argument that BOTH parties used to support? Seems pretty reasonable to me.)

Ultimately, this new position of strength for Democrats must be utilized for one primary directive… turning out voters.  That is more important than anything the Davis or Van de Putte could yell from the rooftops.  Has Texas changed enough to swing some statewide offices blue?  Check the Senate clock… it’s still tickin’.