Critics of the congressional health care overhaul are organizing protests in Dallas, Houston and Austin.
Rally organizers aim to chide U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for voting last week to end a procedural stalemate in the U.S. Senate. They say the Texas Republican's vote, related to a defense spending measure, helped clear the way for a Christmas Eve debate on the health-care legislation.
Hutchison was one of three Republicans who voted to stop a filibuster of the defense spending bill. She said the vote was needed to protect U.S. troops abroad. However, some conservative activists in the anti-tax "tea party" movement say she should have stuck with Republicans leaders trying to delay consideration of the health-care bill.
Hutchison is challenging Gov. Rick Perry in the March Republican primary for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
