Despite mounting public protest, Texas lawmakers are fast-tracking two anti-trans and anti-abortion bills. Both measures are being advanced during a special legislative session convened by Governor Greg Abbott ®, who has made restricting transgender rights and reproductive freedom central to his agenda.
Your example of working to unconsciousness is overly reductive, as in this case it would actually accomplish nothing. Circumventing laws that are outright harmful by utilizing a tool at your disposal is a reasonable expectation.
By not doing so, there are years if not decades long repercussions for significant chunks of the population of Texas. Best case scenario now, the status quo is maintained in the federal house races. More of this godawful legislation is going to get rammed through the Texas Legislature now that they are back and since they are under protective custody now if something comes up they want to kill in process they can’t leave again.
It’s not their fault that the Governor is pushing these laws, its also not their fault that their Republican colleagues are voting for it. It is their fault for not following through until they had some other means of stopping the bleeding here. Voting no when there is no meaningful result produced doesn’t get you a gold star.
Regardless of whether unconsciousness is actually the peak, if the claim is that D’s are at fault for not sacrificing more of other aspects of their lives to achieve a better outcome in their jobs, better outcomes for their constituents, needs some other line to be drawn to avoid applying it all the way to the extremes. It may technically be a tool at their disposal, but that doesn’t automatically make it a reasonable expectation; devoting every moment of their lives to their job is also technically at their disposal, but that can’t be reasonably expected of anyone, regardless of how important the job is. I posit that whatever line one draws there is what the real issue is, not their failure to do better.
I don’t disagree that they didn’t actually accomplish anything here, and it’s fair to say that deserves no accolades, but there is still a gap between actually helping and being at fault. They are less to blame than, and any rebuke should come after, any of the millions who voted for the R’s pushing this plan, even accounting for being elected reps vs voters.