The following is from an editorial in The New York Times:
Wendy Davis, a Texas state senator, got attention last week for her filibuster against an extremist package of abortion restrictions. Her uprising showed that Democrats can fight back against the anti-abortion-rights campaign. It should inspire abortion-rights advocates.
Last Tuesday, talking for more than 11 hours, Davis blocked passage of the new abortion restrictions by running out the clock on a legislative session. Her victory may be short-lived. Texas' Republican governor, Rick Perry, has called another special session to resurrect the bill.
The measure, would give Texas one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. If enacted, it would ban abortions at 20 weeks post-fertilization; there would be no rape exception, and a narrow physical health exception would jeopardize women's lives by requiring risk to a "major bodily function" before a woman could terminate a pregnancy.
In other parts of the U.S., "small-government" Republicans are mandating government interference with a woman's personal childbearing decisions.
In New York, legislators defeated a measure proposed by the Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, that essentially would have enshrined the reproductive rights guaranteed by Roe vs. Wade into state law.
Davis' filibuster is a reminder of the need for engagement by lawmakers and voters to prevent further restrictions that hurt the rights and health of women.
With so many damaging restrictions already on the books, though, much also depends on the courts to insist on respect for existing constitutional protections. That includes the Supreme Court, which has tentatively accepted a case for next term testing the validity of Oklahoma's effective ban on a common first-trimester abortion method that uses prescription medication.