Texas Senator Shatters Table Trying to Silence Woman Testifying Against Anti-Abortion Bill

[marble falls]

Texas Senator Shatters Table Trying to Silence Woman Testifying Against Anti-Abortion Bill
Posted By Alex Zielinski on Thu, Feb 16, 2017 at 12:30 PM

https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2017/02/16/texas-senator-shatters-table-trying-to-silence-woman-testifying-against-anti-abortion-bill?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=articleblog&utm_campaign=rightrail&utm_content=PeopleWhoLiked

It only took state Sen. Charles Schwertner ten minutes of listening to testimony against anti-abortion bills before he broke a table.

Schwertner, the Republican chair of the Texas Senate's Committee on Health and Human Services, spent Wednesday morning introducing and defending a bill that would ban most women from donating fetal tissue from their abortions to science. His legislation was bundled with two other anti-abortion bills — one to throw out the safest abortion procedure for second-trimester pregnancies, the other to mandate all abortion remains are buried and cremated — penned by two other GOP senators, Charles Perry and Don Huffines.

After discussing the bills amongst themselves, the committee opened the floor to three hours of public testimony — which started with a bang.

"I'm here on behalf of all absent women, families and doctors across the state whose lives will be negatively impacted by this bill," began the testimony of Maggie Hennessy, a UT student and intern with NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. She was the fourth person to speak (of more than 50).

Hennessy verbally shredded Sen. Huffines bill against second-trimester abortions. Her voice shook with anger as she scolded lawmakers for openly putting women in danger.

"Ms. Hennessy —" Schwertner interrupted a minute into her testimony. "Your time is done."

Schwertner hit the table so hard w/ his gavel demanding that our intern stop talking during her testimony that he broke the glass. #txlege pic.twitter.com/2eZmOz0Cq5
— Alexa Garcia-Ditta (@agarciaditta) February 15, 2017


But Hennessy went on, saying, "I urge you to all stop playing with reproductive health care like it's your own political puppet." That's when Schwertner dropped the gavel — so hard that he shattered the glass table before him.

"Your time is done," he repeated.

That Schwertner broke a table while trying to silence a woman opposing a bill that would solely impact women is all the more jarring considering the events that grabbed headlines last week. During the February 8 confirmation hearing for now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used an arcane senate rule to silence U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's criticism of the former senator (which, perhaps to McConnell's chagrin, made her testimony go viral). Schwertner's reaction, coupled with McConnell's, sends a jolting message to Texas women.

And if Schwertner was really table-breaking concerned about the time allotted for public testimony, he probably wouldn't have let the first speaker (and dozens after), a representative from the anti-abortion advocacy group Texas Right to Life, ramble on in support for twice as long as Hennessy was allowed to speak.

[The Polack MSgt]

1. A year old, but still a reminder of what they really are. NT

[marble falls]

14. First I heard of it. Thought it was recent because the Leg is still at it.

[DemocracyMouse]

15. What's not a year old? The 2nd Women's March!

The second Women's March is only days past and I've been trying to invite folks here to share pix from their cities - especially showing the sheer size of the resistance. That isn't old news and it's very proactive. Been having a hard time convincing folks to keep circulating pix from the marches (which Trump spurred on last year by making a fuss about crowd numbers).

Please, DU, let's keep featuring our strengths, not just our enemy's horrors. I've attempted twice to post a request for march coverage and neither were recommended. It befuddles me, honestly, that a post asking people to post songs involving made-up words was featured, but pix of the marches ignored.

I'm relatively new here and don't quite get the sensibility. It seems to be more about reacting to the Republicans (and cute cats), than proposing solutions.

[democratisphere]

2. Hope Schwertner gets the bill to replace the table.

This redumbliCON idiot needs to chill.

[procon]

3. Men silencing women, that's a story as old as time, and it needs to stop.

Men should never be the sole deciding authority on woman's rights or the issues that have major impacts on our lives. And I would include everything under that caveat to achieve parity, not just a woman's right to govern her own body as she deems best, but equal wages and equal rights without discrimination based on gender or age.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

8. Elect more Progressive women.....

I know, easier said than done. Men should not be deciding what is best for women and their bodies. This is about control and women DO NOT want to be controlled.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. Personally I want liberal women elected.

[samnsara]

19. amen!

[mr_liberal]

23. There are just as many men that are pro choice as there are women that are anti abortion. just fyi.

[procon]

24. So what? Men are not women, and while I'm grateful for all the guys who

stand up for women's rights, as I clearly stated above, men should never be the sole arbiters on women's issues, not even the good ones.

[mr_liberal]

25. That makes no sense at all. What matters is what someone believes, not what genitals they have. nm

[procon]

26. Men should never be the sole arbiters on women's issues. Period. nt

[PDittie]

4. Last year's news

Schwertner hasn't changed a bit, however.

[Paladin]

5. I presume he's related to the cattle empire Schwertners I grew up with.

If so, his behavior runs in the family.

[mountain grammy]

6. Since this happened last year

I'm sure he's moved on from breaking the desk to breaking the heads of women daring to speak out against the oppression of women. If not, we can expect that soon.

[Pepsidog]

7. Backward thinking SOBs. I wish them nothing but ill-will

[forgotmylogin]

9. Why is the dumbass even hitting a glass table with a gavel in the first place?

Don't they have a special block for it to prevent damage to nice wood surfaces (and glass)?



Unless he hit that so hard that it shattered the table.

[marble falls]

13. He was too busy shutting up another mouthy woman. (insert sarcasmicon here)

[IronLionZion]

10. Nevertheless, she persisted

GOP will find some way to repeal the 19th amendment.

[marble falls]

11. Not if we all start/keep persisting. We need to become shut-up proof.

[ehrnst]

12. Silence the Witch! Suffer not a witch to speak, for she will

so entrance those women listening that they will start to question their husbands, join book clubs and GOTV efforts!!

[ehrnst]

16. Well, at least we broke a glass table. (nt)

[Politicub]

17. I wonder what else he hits when he tries to silence a woman?

If words make him that angry, I worry about the women in his personal life.

If he breaks a table when the cameras are rolling, imagine what he is capable of doing behind closed doors.

[elmac]

18. because we no longer have separation of church and state

we are all forced to bend the knee to the evil cult called religions.

[DownriverDem]

21. Who is to blame?

Voters allowed this to happen election after election while they were paying attention to something else.

[Mariana]

28. Christian voters, and they WERE paying attention.

Many Christian voters are very happy to have their religious beliefs inflicted upon everyone else by force of law. They elected people who would do that for them.

[DownriverDem]

20. And repubs wonder

why most of the country hates them.

[mr_liberal]

22. lol Is that why they control everything? nm