Tag Archives: women’s health
Despite Self-Congratulation, Lawmakers Did Virtually Nothing about Maternal Mortality Crisis
Governor Greg Abbott said he was “committed to doing everything we can to combat the maternal mortality rate,” but lawmakers ignored specific recommendations to reduce pregnancy-related deaths.
Jen Reel From the way the governor and top Republican lawmakers have been talking, you’d think the Legislature was taking bold steps toward solving the state...Read More
What a Ban on Insurance for Abortions Means for Women with High-Risk Pregnancies
UPDATE: Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 214 into law on Tuesday, August 15. The measure passed the Senate on August 13 by a vote of 20 to 10, and in the ...Read More
This Week: Behind Greg Abbott’s Bizarre Beef with Tree Ordinances
We dig into Abbott's violation of an Austin ordinance in 2011 and detail his controversial vetoes targeting the state's most vulnerable.
Keep up with the Observer’s sharp reporting on the Legislature and throughout Texas with this weekly newsletter. When Governor Greg Abbott included nixing...Read More
Governor Greg Abbott Vetoes Women’s Health Committee Despite Ongoing Crises
Rep. Donna Howard said Abbott’s veto is “disgraceful” and jeopardizes “health and safety of women across the state.”
Texas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, the highest rate of repeat teen pregnancy in the United States, the highest uninsured rate...Read More
Texas’ Maternal Mortality Rate: Worst in Developed World, Shrugged off by Lawmakers
Lawmakers largely ignored the state's pregnancy-related death rate that doubled over a two-year period.
Courtesy/Shawn Thierry When she got pregnant four years ago, Representative Shawn Thierry knew she was at risk. She was 42 at the time, an age at which women ar...Read More
Photos: They Fought the Lege (and the Lege Won)
The Observer recaps the efforts of those who challenged the Republican-controlled Legislature. Photos and reporting by Sam DeGrave As far as controversial sessi...Read More
Texas Bill Could Send People to Jail for Driving a Woman to an Abortion, Lawmaker Says
A sweeping anti-abortion bill leaves prosecutors wide discretion over who is charged for unlawful abortions.
May 26 UPDATE: The Senate accepted House amendments to SB 8 on a vote of 22-9 Friday afternoon. The bill now heads to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk for his sig...Read More
Going It Alone
More than 40 percent of Texas families living in poverty are single-mother households.
courtesy Sarah Angle My 5-year-old daughter sits at the table, rocking back and forth in a rickety chair I should have replaced years ago. Peas and other discar...Read More
Abortion-Rights Advocates are Really Worried About Texas’ ‘Sanctuary Cities’ Ban
SB 4 will scare more immigrants away from accessing reproductive health care, critics say.
Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley, Nancy Cárdenas Peña often worried that her undocumented parents wouldn’t make it home. She feared being pulled over by ...Read More