One Year After Wendy Davis’ Famous Filibuster, Here’s How The Country Has Changed

By Tara Culp-Ressler on June 26, 2014 at 9:37 am

Exactly one year ago, Americans woke up to the news that a Texas state senator’s dramatic 11-hour filibuster had lasted through the night, effectively blocking an omnibus anti-abortion bill from passing the GOP-controlled legislature. And the night before that, thousands of people from across the country huddled around their computer screens to watch a live stream of Wendy Davis, who wasn’t allowed to sit down, take a drink of water, go to the bathroom, or stray off topic while she was attempting to filibuster the bill.

Despite the best efforts of Davis and her fellow reproductive rights activists, that anti-abortion legislation did end up eventually being approved, and it began taking effect this past fall. Nonetheless, Davis’ famous stand against the measure still left its mark on Texas and on the rest of the country. Here’s what’s happened in the 365 days since Davis donned her pink sneakers in the Texas capitol building:

Thousands of activists mobilized to fight for women’s health.

Davis certainly didn’t act alone. Thousands of people swarmed the capitol building to protest Texas’ proposed abortion restrictions, and the so-called “orange army” did their part to slow down the advancement of the legislation. Hundreds of people signed up to testify against the bill, many of them giving passionate speeches about reproductive rights that went viral, and a new generation of Texas activists was born. Those activists didn’t just disappear after Davis’ filibuster ended. Now, a year later, a coalition called Fight Back Texas is continuing to “fight back against any efforts that restrict access to safe and legal abortions,” pledging that “our voices will continue to be heard.” State Rep. Donna Howard (D) told Texas Public Radio this week that she thinks the filibuster raised the level of activism in Texas by ten fold.

Wendy Davis and Leticia Van Putte were launched onto the national stage.

The fight for reproductive rights, and the positive public reception to Davis’ filibuster, helped propel forward several political careers. Davis decided to run for governor in Texas, which hasn’t been led by a Democratic governor in nearly 20 years. And her colleague Leticia Van Putte, who famously challenged Republican lawmakers during the filibuster — “At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues?” she said at one point — is running for lieutenant governor. They’ve inspired some speculation that Texas’ political atmosphere may be shifting, and helped elevate women’s issues that are becoming relevant to campaigns in other states as well. Davis’ opponents have kept the attention on her reproductive rights stance by mocking her as an “abortion barbie.”

full: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/06/26/3453508/one-year-wendy-davis-filibuster/