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Public Health

Ken Paxton’s ‘Shoddy’ Prosecution of a Midwife Is Part of a Strategy to Expand His Power. Low-Income Houstonians Are Paying the Price.

Maria Margarita Rojas is the first healthcare provider charged for abortion care under Texas’ strict criminal ban. Her attorneys say the state has no evidence—yet her clinics remain shuttered.

by Mary Tuma

Keep Reading

Local Environmental Groups Are Still Reeling from Trump’s DOGE Cuts 

by Justin Doud

Nowhere to Go: Inside the Texas Boarding Home System Where Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Are Widespread

by Ottavia Spaggiari

The Ballad of Betty Rizzo

by Rachelle Meyer

Apr 29, 2024

An East Texas County Fights a Bitter Battle Over a Reborn Hospital

As a rural hospital in Crockett struggles with the cost of indigent and other unpaid care, a torn community weighs how to keep its local hospital open and financially viable.

by Kathryn Jones

The sun is setting over the refineries and windmills along Nueces Bay Apr 11, 2024

Water Scarcity and Clean Energy Collide in South Texas

A high-tech chemical company has purchased the last available water in the Nueces River to make hydrogen and ammonia for export.

by Dylan Baddour

Dade Phelan, a white man in a suit and tie, prepares to bang his gavel. Behind him is a light board showing how different representatives vote on the current bill. Mar 26, 2024

Dade Phelan’s Efforts to Expand Healthcare Still Leave Many Struggling in His District

The House speaker has never backed full Medicaid expansion, and GOP resistance could now harden.

by Kim Krisberg

Vanessa Ramos has a coughing fit at a park Mar 25, 2024

Clearing the Air

Long COVID sufferers advocate for a healthier world.

by Kit O'Connell

A small house is dwarfed by the refinery behind it, with a smokestack spewing white smoke or steam. Mar 18, 2024

Gulf Coast Petrochemical Buildout Draws Billions in Tax Breaks For Polluters

A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project compiled data on every U.S. plastics plant built, expanded or proposed since 2012, revealing massive growth in Texas.

by Dylan Baddour

A young woman or teen sitting on a couch, head in hands with sadness or despair, as she holds a pregnancy test in one hand. Jan 30, 2024

After Abortion Ban, Texas Teen Birth Rate Rises

The increase reverses a 15-year trend. And unwanted pregnancies will rise, researchers predict.

by Lise Olsen

College students and abortion rights activists hold signs during a rally on the steps of the Texas Capitol in February 2015. Jan 24, 2024

Women’s Lives Are on the Ballot This November

Representative Jasmine Crockett warns of another Trump presidency on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

by Jasmine Crockett

A room full of Ohioans with their arms raised in celebration Nov 08, 2023

The Reason Texans Can’t Vote on Abortion and Weed

Hint: The Legislature could give us the chance if it wanted.

by Gus Bova

Stock image of a pregnant person in a doctor's office, with a doctor holding a clip board of medication instructions. There are sonogram results on a table, along with a stethoscope. Oct 19, 2023

Study: More Infants Die in States that Restrict Abortion

The same researchers found that the mortality rate for Black babies was more than twice that of white ones.

by Zane McNeil

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