It was high drama in the Texas Capitol as the state Senate took up a measure to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks.

Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, a virtual unknown to most of the state, rose to her feet shortly after 11 a.m. to speak against the bill. And speak she did for more than 12 hours, until she was forced to sit down by the rules of the chamber. Until then, she was not allowed to sit or lean against her desk and could not have anything to eat or drink, which probably was good since she couldn’t take a rest room break either.

Whether one agrees with her stand, we have to admire her determination and fortitude. In the end, with about 15 minutes before the session legally had to end at midnight, Davis sat down and the vote on Senate Bill 5 began.

That’s when a packed audience broke into a loud demonstration that made it impossible for the vote to conclude until after the midnight deadline. The bill passed, but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst finally agreed three hours later that because the final votes came too late, the measure failed.

Not to be rejected, Gov. Rick Perry, a strong proponent of the bill, immediately called the Legislature back.

Senate Republicans condemned spectators who outshouted the lawmakers and caused the bill’s failure, referring to them as an unruly mob.

But the spectators were not a mob. Instead, they were a group of Texans expressing their political beliefs, some guaranteed by the U.S. and Texas constitutions. Just as we would not condemn those who protest in front of a Planned Parenthood Clinic, so should we not condemn the spectators in the Senate gallery.

A poll conducted this month by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune shows that Texans are pretty evenly split on the issue.

Forty-six percent of Texans in the scientific poll oppose abortion outright or only in the case of rape or incest or if the mother’s life is in danger from the pregnancy.

Forty-nine percent say abortion should be permitted, although many feel a need for an abortion should be established first.

Sixteen percent of the respondents say abortion should be banned in every instance, while 36 percent say the choice should be the woman’s alone.

Of those surveyed, 38 percent said abortion laws should be stricter, 26 percent said they should be less strict and 21 percent think they should be left as they are.

Interestingly, conservatives who typically want less government control of their lives are the most ardent supporters of either a ban on abortion altogether or stricter regulations.

The question we have is why are so many men so strident on the issue of abortion limitations? Perhaps they genuinely care about the fetus, but more likely their opposition is a vestige of the days when they controlled women and their lives.

We hate to tell you guys, but those days are long past — thankfully — and you’d better get used to it.

Perry proved the point that some men want to control women when he patronizingly said that Sen. Davis — daughter of a single mother who became a single mother herself at age 19 and went on to put herself through Harvard Law School — failed to learn from her own life lesson. This is the same governor who vetoed the equal pay for women bill. What is he afraid of ?

The effect of Senate Bill 5, which likely will be reintroduced and passed, will force almost 40 clinics that now provide safe abortions to stop providing those services. Only five clinics now operating could continue to do abortions and thousands of Texas women will not have access to them.

Those who think stopping abortions will end them are deluded. If we do, more women will have to turn to unsafe and unsanitary practices, condemning many of them to severe injury or death.

We understand and honor the beliefs of those who oppose abortion. But issues of abortion should not be decided by the men of the Texas Legislature. They should be left up to the woman, her doctor and her conscience.

— The Eagle of Bryan-College Station (Texas)