GRAND political theatre unfolded in Austin on June 25th. Wendy Davis (pictured), a state senator in pink trainers, staged an 11-hour filibuster in the Texas Senate. Her goal was to prevent the passage of a law that would limit women’s access to abortion. The capitol was packed with cheering supporters wearing orange in solidarity. There was a dramatic stand-off after a colleague helped with a back brace (the filibuster rules required her to keep standing without assistance). Tweeters nominated Connie Britton, the star of “Nashville”, a drama about country music, to play Ms Davis in a future film.

Ms Davis prevailed. Senate Republicans did not pass the abortion bill before the legislature’s special session ended at midnight. But a Hollywood ending is unlikely. On June 26th Rick Perry, Texas’s governor, recalled the legislature for another vote on July 1st.

Forty years ago the Supreme Court struck down state laws banning abortion in Roe v Wade. Since then pro-lifers have sought ways to curb abortions without flouting Roe. In 2011 states passed 92 restrictions on abortion services, compared with a previous record of 34 such laws in 2005, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice think-tank. Last year states passed 43 restrictions.

These rules take many forms, from parental-consent laws for minors to mandatory waiting periods. Kansas has been imaginative: in April it passed a law requiring those seeking abortions to be counselled on the risk of foetal pain and breast cancer. Arkansas passed a law in March banning abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy; North Dakota then banned abortions after as few as six. A judge has already blocked Arkansas’s law. A women’s-rights group challenged North Dakota’s ban on June 25th.

The bill in Texas seeks to ban abortions after 20 weeks, to require that abortionists have admitting privileges at a local hospital and that clinics meet the same standards as surgical centres. Critics say this would force some clinics to shut. And so it may: Ms Davis’s orange-clad fans will struggle to win in deep-red Texas.