of senator wendy davis talks for 10 hours to filibuster abortion bill

Sen. Wendy Davis tries to filibuster an abortion bill. The bill would ban abortion at 20 weeks gestation, place limits on abortion-inducing drugs and introduce other restrictions that advocates say would close 37 of the 42 clinics that provide abortions in the state.



The rules for speaking in the 31 member Texas Senate are strict. Senator Davis took the floor at 11.18 am, needing to keep talking for 12 hours and 42 minutes to ensure that the bill to close most of Texas’s abortion clinics and ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy missed its midnight deadline. She was not allowed to go off the topic, or to take food or water, or nip to the ladies, or lean on her desk. Her chair was taken away as she began: no sitting allowed.

Read more (Texas senator Wendy Davis stages marathon filibuster against abortion bill)


Watch Video of Sen. Wendy Davis Attempting to put on Back-Brace During Filibuster

The longest filibuster in American history was by Rand Paul who spoke for 12 hours against Barack Obama's drone programme.