Leticia Van De Putte, Texas Legislator, Slams Male Colleagues During Abortion Filibuster

As Republican lawmakers suspended Texas state senator Wendy Davis' marathon filibuster of a contentious abortion bill late Tuesday night, a Democratic lawmaker called out her male colleagues for silencing the legislature's female representatives.

"Did the President hear me or did the President hear me and refuse to recognize me?" state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte asked.

"At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues? she asked as the chamber erupted in cheers.

Earlier in the evening, De Putte, whose father died in a car accident last week, helped run out the clock after Republicans suspended the filibuster on the grounds that Davis' discussion of mandatory ultrasound testing was not related to the abortion bill.

Since I was not able to be here on the floor because of my fathers funeral, I ask that you tell me the three points of order so that I may understand even in the most basic way the debate about to begin, she said .

She also challenged Republicans' grounds for stopping the filibuster, pointing out that mandatory ultrasounds place an additional burden on women seeking abortions.

Do they do a sonogram for a tonsillectomy? No. For an appendectomy? No, she said .