A single vote detonated the chamber.
Not loudly—not with shouting or spectacle—but with the quiet, devastating force of a decision that would shape lives far beyond the marble floor. Careers trembled. Alliances cracked. And a tiny, already vulnerable minority was dragged beneath a blinding national spotlight they never asked for. In hallways, parents wept into their hands while lawmakers polished cable-news talking points. Doctors checked their malpractice insurance. Activists hustled to reprint protest signs. The bill’s language promised protection—or punishment—depending on who was reading it. And as federal power shifted from one side of the aisle to the other, the children at the center of the debate were left nowhere to stand. Continue reading…
