Good thing we’ve still got politics in Texas — finest form of free entertainment ever invented.
— Molly Ivins
The last time I witnessed a countdown to zero that meant anything to me was when I was a child, watching as the Apollo rocket to the Moon was launched. It felt then like I was watching the buzzer sounding the beginning of the future.
It took over 40 years, but last night while watching the live blogging on a Daily Kos thread that witnessed the proceedings in Texas, I finally experienced a countdown just as riveting, with personal implications for all our futures: Texas state senator Wendy Davis’ heroic 13-hour filibuster that ultimately tabled approval of an onerous anti-abortion bill, Texas Senate Bill 5 (or SB5).
If Davis’ filibuster had failed and the vote took place before midnight CST, our counting to zero would have been a launch to the past. Davis’ filibuster had to hold the floor of the legislature’s chambers to prevent the senate from voting on the 25th of June, the last day of a special session called for this senate bill to be approved. If the bill was approved and signed into law — a certainty given the Republican majority in the Texas state legislature, Texas would have closed almost every abortion clinic in the state.