HOUSTON— When Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis arrived at the Capitol in Austin on Tuesday morning wearing pink sneakers, everyone knew that a daylong, marathon filibuster was about to begin. So was a controversy. Davis, 50, a Democrat from Fort Worth, had been specially chosen by her caucus to mount a last-ditch attempt to block sweeping legislation to ban abortions at 20 weeks and force the state's abortion clinics to upgrade or close. Whether she succeeded was unclear. The standards for filibusters in the 31-member Texas Senate are stricter than in the U.S. Senate. To succeed, Davis would have to speak about the legislation until the special session ended at midnight. No talking off...
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