Health Care
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 ...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 pr...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...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 in...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 st...Read More
Molly Ivins on Universal Health Care
Politicians have been debating and dancing around universal health care for 25 years.
Editor’s Note: This month, we’re reprinting some of our favorite Molly Ivins columns in celebration of her birth month and the upcoming wide release...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 chi...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 serie...Read More
Texas’ New Medical Marijuana Law Doesn’t Cover Veterans Suffering from PTSD
The Legislature recently passed medical cannabis reform, but the debate was marred by misinformation and left out people who say the drug eases their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
When Dave Bass returned from Iraq to Texas in 2005, doctors diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s a familiar problem for combat vets;...Read More
