Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R)
will call a second special legislative session that will begin on July 1,
according to ABC News reporter Arlette Saenz.
The news comes less than 24 hours after Texas’ first special session concluded
with a 13-hour filibuster that effectively blocked an omnibus abortion bill from passing.
Perry convened the first
special session to give lawmakers more time to consider abortion-related bills
that failed to advance during the state’s regular legislative period. Since
special sessions operate under different rules, they allow the Republican
majority to more easily rush through legislation without as much room for
debate. Nevertheless, a coalition of grassroots women’s health activists and state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) were able to delay the stringent SB 5 by delaying a final vote. On Tuesday night, Davis successfully filibustered SB 5 by talking about the legislation for over 12 hours without sitting
down, going to the bathroom, eating, drinking, or straying off-topic.
Nevertheless, despite
Davis’ successful maneuver to defeat the legislation and the outpouring of support from activists across the country, there’s nothing to stop Perry
from calling another special session. Some women’s health advocates speculated that Republican lawmakers were counting on it. There were two
other pieces of legislation up for consideration during Tuesday’s debate, and
in order to block SB 5, Davis was forced to filibuster all of them — so the
governor may be able to use those bills as an excuse to give lawmakers yet another extra lawmaking session this year.
It is unlikely that the
same tactics that women’s health advocates used to delay SB 5 during the first
special session will be effective during the second. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that, under a second special session, the legislation is likely to
be approved.
If enacted into law, SB 5
would criminalize abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and shut down 90
percent of the abortion clinics in the state. Planned Parenthood’s Cecile
Richards has pointed out that, due to the Lone Star State’s size and density,
leaving Texas women with just five abortion clinics would be tantamount to
banning the procedure altogether.
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