Sophie Novack
By Sophie Novack:
The Supreme Court Taking Up Louisiana’s Abortion Case ‘Flies in the Face of Precedent’
Some Small Texas Towns Are Declaring Themselves ‘Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn’
Frustrated with the Legislature, Texas city officials are taking on abortion rights through local policy measures.
Update, September 25, 2019: This story, originally published on September 18, 2019, has been updated to reflect news that additional towns have passed citywide abortion bans. When it comes to the Texas Legislature’s actions on abortion restrictions this year, virtually … Read More
American Health Care is Broken, Especially in Texas. What Can We Do About It?
Physician Marty Makary’s new book shows how sky-high medical bills can ruin patients’ lives—but puts the burden on individuals to demand change.
Add yet another first place health care ranking no one wants for Texas: We have the highest hospital bills in the country. A new study has found that Texas prices (before insurance) were on average 6.4 times higher than the … Read More
Thousands of Rape Kits in Texas Went Untested For Years. Lavinia Masters Is Ending That.
The Lavinia Masters Act, which goes into effect in September, is the culmination of more than ten years of Masters’ advocacy in Texas, where a backlog of about 20,000 untested rape kits was identified in 2011.
Lavinia Masters was 13 years old when a stranger raped her at knifepoint in her Dallas bedroom. For more than two decades, her rape kit—the evidence collected in a hospital after the assault on July 31, 1985—sat untested. By the … Read More
‘My Congregation Trusts Women’: Progressive Faith Groups Counter Anti-Abortion Narratives
Conservative Texas groups and lawmakers have cited their faith to back abortion restrictions, but polling shows that majorities across many religions actually support abortion rights.
On a scorching afternoon in mid-July, clergy members gathered outside a small unmarked building tucked away in a business complex in North Austin. They filed inside, up the stairs, and into the waiting room of the Whole Woman’s Health abortion … Read More
A Texas Anti-Abortion Group Dramatically Missed its Family Planning Targets. Now its Founder is Suing the Federal Government for More Money.
Vita Nuova doesn’t appear to exist beyond its paper filing, but it is suing to get Title X funding in a hypothetical future in which it is ineligible for said funding.
Anti-abortion activist Carol Everett—whose organization the Heidi Group served a fraction of the women’s health patients it pledged to treat and is under state investigation for questionable spending of more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars—has a new venture. She’s … Read More
The Trauma of Teen Mothers Held in Border Patrol Lockups
“My baby has not eaten a full meal in 15 days. I am very worried and don't know what to do,” said a 16-year-old from El Salvador.
On May 28, Border Patrol picked up a 16-year-old Honduran girl who had crossed the Rio Grande with her 8 month-old-infant, and sent the young mother and her child to a border processing center in Texas dubbed the perrera (dog … Read More
Meet the ‘Abortion Abolitionists’ Shaping Policy in the Texas GOP
The most extreme anti-abortion group in the state has gained momentum this year and now claims to have 90,000 members.
With the far right ascendant in Texas politics, once-marginal ideas and people have found a place in the political mainstream. Our recurring Fringe Factor series is an introduction to the often-unknown, but influential activists, thinkers and operatives who play a … Read More
Doctor Details ‘Insane,’ ‘Demoralizing’ Conditions for Kids at Texas Migrant Detention Center
A pediatrician talks to the Observer about her recent visit to a South Texas detention facility.
Kids sleeping on the ground with lights on at all hours, day and night. Teen moms lacking sufficient drinking water and struggling to breastfeed their babies. Infants drinking from dirty bottles. No access to handwashing; sometimes, no showers for weeks. … Read More
Inside Texas’ Failed Experiment to Replace Planned Parenthood with an Anti-Abortion Group
The Heidi Group’s quick rise and fall is a cautionary tale of prioritizing politics over proven health providers.
The Heidi Group’s quick rise and fall is a cautionary tale of what happens when government prioritizes politics over health care. – by Sophie Novack June 5, 2019 On a Wednesday morning in April, the Heidi Clinic is empty, save … Read More
