As the Texas legislature convened a special session July 1 to consider a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, rabid pro-abortion activists once again congregated at the state Capitol, heckling solemn pro-life activists and preparing to attempt to shut down the legislative process as they did at the tail end of a late-June special session. The nearly lawless mob was spurred on by Democratic State Senator Wendy Davis, whose solitary filibuster during the earlier session temporarily postponed a vote on the pro-life bill, and energized the pro-abortion mob to successfully stall passage and signing of the bill until after the official ending of the first special session at midnight on Tuesday, June 25.
“Davis talked for more than ten hours [June 25] in helping to run out the clock on the legislation that would be one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country, if approved,” reported CNN. “The last ditch attempt by Senate Republicans to pass it before a midnight deadline was thwarted by [pro-abortion] spectators in the Capitol chanting ‘Shame! Shame! Shame!’”
The bitter mob action, which prevented lawmakers and Republican Governor Rick Perry from completing the legislative business for which Texas voters had commissioned them, appeared to meet the approval of President Obama, who tweeted that “something special is happening in Austin tonight.” Obama has famously vowed to veto any federal legislation that protects pre-born children from late-term abortions.
In calling the legislature back into special session to consider the bill — which has enough votes to pass, along with the solid backing of a majority of Texans — Perry vowed that he would not allow what he described as the “mob rule” and “unprecedented anarchy” of the pro-abortion crowd to derail the will of the people a second time.
“The Texas Legislature is poised to finish its history-making work this year by passing legislation to protect the unborn and women’s health,” Perry said in part in a statement July 1. He added that “we will not allow the breakdown of decorum and decency to prevent us from doing what the people of this state hired us to do.”
In addition to banning most abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy (except for rape and when the life of the mother is supposedly in danger), the bill will significantly tighten regulations on abortion clinics and regulate who may perform the procedure. Pro-abortion critics of the bill claim that it will shut down most abortion clinics in the state.
“I’m all about honest, open debate,” Perry said in response to Davis’ 10-hour spectacle and the pro-abortion quasi-riot that effectively prevented passage of the pro-life bill. “Parliamentary tactics are certainly nothing new. But what we witnessed Tuesday was nothing more than the hijacking of the democratic process. And this is simply too important a cause to allow the unruly actions of a few to stand in its way.”
It appears as though the legislative process may be in for a new round of mobocracy as the lawmakers prepared for another try at passing the pro-life bill. Senator Davis made the rounds of national news shows July 2, vowing more of the same tactics that shut down passage during the first special session. Davis told NBC’s Meet the Press that she was not inclined to “concede the argument” on the bill, even though passage appeared certain. She called the right to abortion an issue of “personal liberty” for women, adding that “in Texas, we hold very dear to intrusions against our personal liberty. We fight very hard against that. And we will fight as we begin the session.”
As the new session began, Davis had plenty of help from a re-energized pro-abortion mob, which again showed up at the state capitol, heckling pro-life activists who were quietly singing “Amazing Grace,” shamelessly shouting down the worshippers with cries of “Hail Satan.” Other pro-abortion protesters provided children with signs that were so vulgar and immoral that what was printed can’t be recorded on this website.
Bill Donohue of the pro-life Catholic League graciously offered, “It would be unfair to say that all pro-abortion supporters would support this obscenity, and indeed most would not.” He wondered, however, why more civil abortion proponents said nothing to condemn the unacceptable actions of the pro-abortion mob that gathered at the Texas State Capitol. Donohue noted that “when someone in the pro-life community acts in an offensive way, he is quickly condemned. By contrast, there are pro-abortion fanatics who draw their inspiration from Satanic forces. Worse, many of those in the pro-abortion community are quite content to stay silent about such offenses.”
The Christian Post quoted faith-based public relations expert Mark DeMoss as tweeting, “Do supporters of late-term abortion in TX help their cause by chanting ‘Hail Satan’ … over the top of pro-lifers singing ‘Amazing Grace’?”
In another tweet, conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg noted that “’Hail Satan!’ was actually the compromise chant. The hot-heads wanted ‘We Know It’s Murder And We Don’t Care!’”
Nonetheless, Governor Perry predicted that when the special session concludes, the pro-life bill “will pass overwhelmingly and will become the law in the state. I think the voice of the people of Texas will be heard.”
Speaking at a National Right to Life convention in Dallas on July 1, pro-life Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst said that he would “never lose hope” in the efforts to protect the unborn and their mothers in his state, “because the numbers are still on our side. Surveys still show more Americans are pro-life than pro-abortion.”
LifeNews.com noted that recent polls show that 64 percent of Americans support legislation like that offered in Texas, which would protect unborn children who can feel pain. “Compelling medical evidence shows unborn children can feel pain by 20 weeks after conception, if not earlier,” reported LifeNews.
Debate on the pro-life legislation is expected to start on the Texas floor on Monday, July 8.
Photo of radical pro-abortion protesters: AP Images
