No, it was shrewd politicking. Had the bill been brought up in the usual way, the Dems could have kept it from reaching the floor for a vote. By bringing it up this way, they forced a lot of Dems to vote against it, which will give their Republican opponents an issue to run on in November.
Gotcha. Good move then.
Yes, that is the exact reasoning. It makes the Democrats look TOO liberal. A lot of Democrats will go to the mat to defend abortion for certain reasons, but not for the purpose of determining genetic characteristics, including sex.
They should have added language that would include banning abortion of homosexual babies, in case a genetic link is ever discovered and then watch the Democrats squirm.