Power to the people

Love this. Crackpot conservatives have been trying to railroad through a really odious anti-abortion bill. In response, people organized to block the vote by using the legal process.

Texas lawmakers are currently rushing an omnibus anti-abortion bill through a special session, after each of its provisions failed to advance separately during the regular legislative session. But not without being met with a fight. Over 700 Texans traveled to Austin on Thursday to testify against the anti-abortion measure before it could come to a vote in the House — and their “people’s filibuster” successfully prevented the legislation from advancing.

The Republican chairman of the House committee tried to shut down their testimony while 300 more people who signed up to speak were still waiting. The crowd prevented him from doing it. So far the vote has still not been taken up. The fight isn't over yet, and the people's filibuster may ultimately fail to block passage of the bill, but how great is it to see people battle the crackpots on their own ground rather than allow them to blithely force it through without any challenge at all?