Texas lawmakers start second special session

AUSTIN, Texas – State troopers lined the halls of the Texas Capitol, and 5,000 protesters rallied outside against proposed abortion legislation, as lawmakers convened Monday for a second special session that Republican leaders pledged wouldn’t descend into chaos like the first.

The Texas House and Senate each met for less than an hour before recessing for the week. That was just long enough to schedule new committee hearings for the proposed restrictions that would make Texas one of the toughest places in the nation for women to get abortions.

Less than one week earlier, Democrats scored a rare victory in the GOP-dominated Legislature by running out the clock on the first special session.

Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth was on her feet for more than 12 hours – speaking most of that time – during the Democratic filibuster. When Republicans used parliamentary technicalities to silence her, hundreds of protesters in the public gallery and surrounding Capitol corridors cheered so loudly that work on the bill couldn’t be completed before the midnight deadline.

“You’re going to see a completely different debate this time around,” said Rep. Steve Toth, a Republican from The Woodlands. “We’re not under that kind of timeline this time around.”

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst took no chances with raucous protesters Monday. Security was much tighter than before, with troopers – some in riot gear – throughout the Capitol complex.

When protesters filed into the House and Senate galleries, pages provided them with copies of the rules warning them that if they disrupted the proceedings, they’d be ejected. There were no arrests or any incidents of violence reported.

And Dewhurst said the Senate would make one major procedural change as well. Rather than follow tradition and require a two-thirds vote to bring up a bill for consideration, he said it would take only a simple majority during this session. That could prove critical because Democrats hold 12 out of 31 seats and successfully blocked the abortion law during the regular legislative session.

On the House side, State Affairs Chairman Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, said he would only allow less than nine hours of public testimony on the bill. Public protests erupted two weeks ago when he cut off testimony during the last session after 12 hours and denied more than 260 women the chance to speak.

“A wise man once said, nothing good happens after midnight,” Cook said, explaining why he was limiting testimony.

Lainie Duro sat on the Capitol floor at 8 a.m. Monday with a stack of feminist literature and sex education books.

“I’m always part of the unruly mob. We refuse to be ruled,” she said.

Outside the Capitol, Sean Ollech and another protester in blue held up a large photo of an aborted fetus.

“This is so they can see the face of abortion,” said Ollech, 32, of Austin.