Election Politics

Texas Legislature Passes Restrictive Voting Bill

The Texas Legislature passed a bill on Tuesday that would restrict voting access across the state. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott is expected to sign the bill soon. The bill, SB 1, imposes several voting restrictions that would predominantly limit voting access for Black, Latinx, and voters with disabilities. It bans drive-thru voting, 24-hour voting, and […]

Abortion Abortion Providers Courts Health Reproductive Rights

Texas Catastrophic Abortion Ban Goes into Effect: Supreme Court Refuses to Act

Texas’s six-week abortion ban went into effect today after the Supreme Court failed to act on abortion providers’ emergency filing to block the law. The ban essentially ends abortion access in Texas, the second-largest state in the country. The ban, which is the strictest in the country, prohibits abortions from being performed after six weeks […]

Abortion Abortion Providers Courts Health Reproductive Rights

Appeals Court Cancels Hearing for Texas Law That Will Ban Most Abortions

A Texas law that would effectively ban all abortions is set to take effect on Wednesday after an appeals court canceled a hearing Friday designed to challenge the law.   The U.S. 5th Circuit Court Appeals was scheduled to have a hearing today to determine the constitutionality of the Texas abortion ban, SB 8. The […]

Abortion Abortion Providers Courts Health Reproductive Rights

Appeals Court Upholds Texas Ban on Common Second-Trimester Abortion Procedure

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Texas can ban the standard dilation and evacuation abortion procedure used in the second trimester of pregnancy. Texas will be the first state in the country to ban the procedure. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Texas law passed in 2017 banning D&E abortions could […]

Abortion Abortion Providers Health Reproductive Rights

Reproductive Rights Organizations File Lawsuit Challenging Texas Abortion Law that Incentivizes Citizen Enforcement

On Tuesday, Abortion rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking a Texas six-week abortion ban. The law would allow individuals to sue anyone thought to have helped someone obtain an abortion. Whole Woman’s Health, Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the ACLU, and other parties are challenging the Texas law, which encourages […]

Health LGBTQ

Texas Legislature Debates Anti-Trans Youth Bill

On Wednesday, the Texas House heard testimony debating HB 1399, a bill which would ban gender-affirming care for transgender young people. The bill would prohibit doctors from providing evidence-based, best practice medical care for transgender young people under 18. Many parents of transgender children spoke on Wednesday about the danger of this bill. One parent […]

Abortion Abortion Providers Politics

Texas House Passes Anti-Abortion Bill

On Wednesday, the Texas House passed a bill banning abortion as early as six weeks, before most people know they are pregnant. The Senate has already passed a similar version, and differences will be negotiated before the bill will go to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. The bill is a “heartbeat bill,” meaning it aims to […]

Abortion Providers Courts Health

Texas Judge Temporarily Blocks Order to Remove Planned Parenthood from Medicaid

A state judge has ruled to temporarily halt the expulsion of Planned Parenthood from the Texas Medicaid program. Planned Parenthood affiliates brought an emergency lawsuit against the order on Wednesday, asserting that the state failed to give proper notice. The change was set to take effect on Thursday of this week, but the temporary restraining […]

Abortion Providers Clinics Reproductive Choice

Texas Clinics See a Rise in Later Abortions After a Temporary State Ban Expires

Many clinics in Texas have observed an increase in later-term abortions, following a temporary ban on the procedures lasting from March 22 until April 22. On March 22, Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order banning most abortions, citing coronavirus and hospital capacity as reasons for this ban. The order stated that “all licensed health […]

Health Labor Rights

States Tell Workers Return to Work During Pandemic or Lose Unemployment Benefits

Some states, including Iowa and Texas, have begun to reopen their economies amidst the coronavirus pandemic and have warned residents that employees who refuse to return to their jobs will be ineligible for unemployment benefits. These policies force workers to decide between their health and unemployment insurance and could facilitate the spread of COVID-19. Congress […]

Abortion Courts Health Politics

Texas Governor’s Executive Order Banning Abortion Expires

Tuesday night, Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s March 21 executive order expired. The order had been the object of weeks of legal debate over the classification of medication and procedural abortion as a ‘non-essential’ medical procedure during the COVID-19 crisis. On Wednesday, Gov. Abbott announced a new executive order, allowing certain medical procedures to resume, […]

Abortion Courts Health Reproductive Rights

Reproductive Rights Groups Sue to Stop Oklahoma’s COVID-19 Abortion Ban

The Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) have filed an emergency lawsuit to nullify Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s ban on abortion procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, Stitt issued an executive order temporarily halting elective surgeries, which he later specified includes all abortions not deemed “necessary to prevent serious […]