Protest Caused by Unruly Bunch in Control

A worldwide audience saw those in control flouting rules, chucking out tradition, ignoring common sense and doing whatever they had to do to get their way. They debased our proud, prestigious chamber in the name of an ideology focused on undermining women’s health and women’s rights.

It’s ironic (to put it kindly) that these folks who so shamelessly ignored the rules to get their way have now, insultingly, applied the “unruly” label to the citizens who packed into their Texas Capitol on Tuesday.

Here’s a short list of just some of Tuesday’s stunning rules determinations:

• They ruled that current Texas abortion restrictions aren’t germane to a discussion of a bill containing new abortion restrictions.
• They ruled that Roe v. Wade, the famous Supreme Court decision guaranteeing a woman’s constitutional right to make decisions about her body, isn’t germane to a discussion of a bill that would severely limit a woman’s right to make such decisions.
• They broke an express promise that senators would vote on whether Sen. Wendy Davis could continue her filibuster.
• They repeatedly refused to recognize Democratic senators who rose with “parliamentary inquiries.”
• They inappropriately recognized a Republican who wanted to throw out my motion to appeal a ruling — wrongly taking the floor from me and giving it to someone they agreed with.
• They cut off the filibuster under a rule saying there can be only three findings that a speaker addressed a non-germane point — even though there were only two such findings on Davis.