A controversial abortion bill was has defeated after a day of political drama in Texas that began with a marathon filibuster speech and ended with a raucous public protest that derailed a vote in the state legislature.
A live video stream and a social media swirl drew attention from around the world to the remarkable scenes in Austin, Texas, where Democrats led by Senator Wendy Davis staged a procedural filibuster to block a bill that would have severely restricted abortion in the
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, David Dewhurst, the Texas lieutenant governor, finally conceded defeat, saying he had missed the midnight deadline to sign the bill.
The attempts to stall the bill began on Monday morning when Davis launched into a speech that would last for 10 hours and 45 minutes. When procedural motions brought by Republican opponents forced her to stop, other Democratic colleagues took up the baton, using arcane procedural wrangles to run down the clock.
As the day wore on, a live video stream grew in popularity and supporters flocked to the chamber, filling the public galleries and spilling out into the hallways outside. Amid cheers and catcalls, a vote was eventually taken on the stroke of the midnight deadline.
Dewhurst told reporters the 19-10 vote was in time, but with all the ruckus and noise going on, I couldn’t sign the bill
. He blamed the delay on an unruly mob using Occupy Wall Street tactics
, according to the Austin American-Statesman, and denied mishandling the debate — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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