Texas abortion bill falls after challenge
By CHRIS TOMLINSON and JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press
Jun 26, 2013 3:08 AM CDT
Hundreds line up to enter the Senate Chamber spills into multiple levels of the rotunda as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that...   (Associated Press)

Texas' lieutenant governor has acknowledged that Republicans missed their deadline to pass new abortion restrictions after protesters screamed down lawmakers as the final 15 minutes passed before the special legislative session's deadline.

Senators from both parties emerged from a private meeting with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and said they were about to officially acknowledge that fact.

Immediately following the vote, Republicans insisted they had started voting before the midnight deadline and passed the bill that Democrats spent much of Tuesday trying to block. But after official computer records and printouts of the voting record showed the vote took place Wednesday, and then were changed to read Tuesday, the senators convened for a private meeting.

More than 400 protesters erupted at 11:45 p.m. when Republicans suspended an effort by Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis to delay the vote.

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