What everyone has forgotten about Wendy Davis' famous filibuster

Hint: It wasn't really about stopping a 20-week ban on abortions

Davis
(Image credit: (Louis DeLuca/Dallas Morning News/Corbis))

In some ways it's refreshing to have a female, and a Democrat, get caught in a swirl of controversy over a comment on abortion. The candidate in this case is Wendy Davis, who's running an underdog campaign for governor of Texas. Davis rose to national (and Texas-wide) prominence for staging an 11-hour filibuster against a sweeping anti-abortion bill in the Texas legislature. The package of restrictions included a ban on abortions after 20 weeks.

On Tuesday, Davis told The Dallas Morning News that, with some modifications, she would have been fine with the 20-week ban on abortions. Texas already had a 24-week ban, and less than one-half of 1 percent of abortions occur that late, usually in cases where a fetus has a severe (often fatal) abnormality or the mother's health is in danger. "I would line up with most people in Texas who would prefer that that's not something that happens outside of those two arenas," she told the newspaper. Then she added:

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.