Health Care
What a Ban on Insurance for Abortions Means for Women with High-Risk Pregnancies
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
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
Abandoning ‘Women’s Health’ Claims, Texas House Approves Wide-Ranging Anti-Abortion Bill
Lawmakers voted to ban the most common form of second trimester abortions and to mandate the burial of fetal remains, among other measures.
Lawmakers voted to ban the most common form of second trimester abortions and to mandate the burial of fetal remains, among other measures. ...Read More
CPS Caseworker: Lawmakers Are ‘Shifting the Blame’ by Privatizing Child Welfare System
“We saw what happened whenever prisons were privatized,” the caseworker told the Observer.
Vivian Farinazzo For Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers, no two days are exactly the same. Jennifer, a CPS worker in Houston, juggles more than a dozen...Read More
Texas Is Seeking Trump’s Approval of its Planned Parenthood Ban. Will Other States Follow?
A win for Texas could greenlight other states to kick the women's health provider out of Medicaid programs.
Texas is testing the Trump administration’s antagonism toward Planned Parenthood with a controversial move that could set a path for other states to defun...Read More
We Were the Safety Net
From Rachel Pearson's "No Apparent Distress: A Doctor’s Coming of Age on the Front Lines of American Medicine," this excerpt is featured in our April issue.
We Were the Safety Net As a medical student in Galveston, Rachel Pearson learned as much in her work at St. Vincent’s, a student-run charity clinic, as in...Read More
Sandra Bland Act Passes Senate Unanimously After Key Provisions Dropped
“I would’ve preferred a more robust bill, but I’m happy — I’m elated — that there is a bill,” said author Garnet Coleman, D-Houston.
The version of the Sandra Bland Act that unanimously passed the Texas Senate Thursday afternoon isn’t the uncompromising criminal justice overhaul it was once...Read More
House Votes to Expand Religious Freedom at the Expense of Foster Children, Critics Say
“Denying [kids] access to things they need or forcing your culture on them at the expense of theirs is not in the best interest of the children,” one foster parent said.
Patricia Murphy, a single foster mother in Austin who is certified to care for the children with the highest needs in the state, says her guiding principle is t...Read More