Health Care
Compassionate (Ab)use: Family Battles Texas over Medical Marijuana
What a Ban on Insurance for Abortions Means for Women with High-Risk Pregnancies
On the day before her abortion, Kristyn Ingram and her husband flipped through books of baby names. They chose one if it was a girl, and another for a boy. The ...Read More
Lawsuit Filed Against New Texas Abortion Law
The Trump presidency and possible changes to the Supreme Court raise the stakes for the state’s next abortion fight.
One year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Texas’ sweeping 2013 anti-abortion law that closed the majority of clinics in the state, reproductive-righ...Read More
Texas Bill Would Revoke Medical Licenses of Doctors Who Perform Abortions
A measure proposed in the special session would ban physicians from providing almost all abortions.
A bill filed in the Texas Legislature’s special session would revoke the licenses of doctors who perform abortions in the state, with limited exceptions. The ...Read More
Texas Mother ‘Deathly Afraid’ of Medicaid Cuts Under GOP Health Plan
Patients, families, doctors, and advocates gathered at a health care town hall with Congressman Lloyd Doggett on Sunday.
For Diane Kearns, the current debate over health care reform comes down to this: “Medicaid saved Dean’s life.” Dean is her son, she explained to several h...Read More
The GOP Health Plan Would Give Governor Greg Abbott Power Over Your Coverage
The Senate bill allows states a huge amount of leeway to get rid of insurance requirements.
The Senate Republicans’ health care plan would give governors virtually unchecked discretion over health insurance plans. In red states with governors hostile...Read More
This Week: Texans’ Health Under Attack by Republican Lawmakers
From air quality to vaccines, much of this week’s Observer coverage focuses on public health in Texas.
Keep up with the Observer’s sharp reporting on the Legislature and throughout Texas with this weekly newsletter. As GOP leaders in Washington, D.C. push a...Read More
Who Really Gets Government Benefits In Texas?
It’s already difficult to qualify for Medicaid in Texas. The GOP health care plan would drastically shrink the program.
JOANNA WOJTKOWIAK Texas already has some of the strictest eligibility requirements of any state for poverty relief programs. More than 4 million Texans live in ...Read More
How the Texas Legislature Reached a Dangerous Stalemate on Vaccines
Even as outbreaks of preventable diseases worry public health officials, anti-vaccination activists blocked legislation to address the problem.
It was mid-April, more than halfway through the legislative session, and Texans for Vaccine Choice was finally getting the fight it had been spoiling for. On Ap...Read More
Getting Wise to Bad Air: North Texans Take Smog Monitoring Into Own Hands
After TCEQ refused to place smog monitors in Wise County, a local environmental group decided to take action.
How bad is the smog problem in Wise County? Situated just west of the Dallas-Fort Worth sprawl, Wise County is in the heart of the Barnett Shale gas patch and s...Read More