Beat but not beaten

Whew!

I just got back from a LOOOONG day at the Statehouse.

It began with a crowd of choicers and only three lifers.
We gathered in committee, each prepared with 30 copies of our 3 minute speeches.

Since there were only three lifers, and a whole days worth of choicers, the Chairman decided to have each side form a panel. Each panel would have all the time they needed to make their best case. Afterwards, there would be Q & A, and then all the rest of us would give our prepared testimonies.

Well...right after he says this, the lifers pour into the room, and produce a panel of high profile professional advocates. An OBGYN, an evangelist, two emotionally fragile women with the saddest testimony imaginable, and a woman named Folger, who was one heavy hitter for life.

They dominated the entire day, and with the exception of some great speeches by our designated panel members, none of the sixty pro choice women were permitted to testify.

We were there all day, waiting for naught.

At lunch, I stepped outside to get a bite to eat, and left my speech on my chair to hold my seat, as did many others. An infusion of fresh lifers arrived out of nowhere as we adjourned. When we got back, all of our seats were taken, and security told us we had to go sit in the overflow room and listen via radio.

At 5pm, the chairman abruptly adjourned with no apologies or mention of continuation.