After a 6-year-old girl was sexually abused in an immigrant detainment center in Arizona, she was forced to sign a document saying it was her responsibility to stay away from her abuser. The girl was residing in the detention facility after being forcibly separated from her parents at the southern border. Her abuser is an older child staying in the same center, Casa Glendale.
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Supreme Court Rules on Major Gerrymandering Cases
The Supreme Court ruled on two major cases regarding gerrymandering on Monday. The decisions, a victory for Republican lawmakers in Texas and North Carolina, allow for the majority of the states’ voting districts to remain in their current design ahead of the 2018 elections.
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Women Surge in Texas’s Congressional Primaries
On Tuesday, Texas was the first state to hold primary races in preparation for the November 2018 midterm elections. For the first time in 25 years, Democrats are running in all 36 of Texas’s congressional districts.
Austin Passes Mandatory Paid Sick Leave
Last week, the Austin City Council voted to become the first city in Texas, and the first in the entire South, to mandate that all employers offer paid sick leave. More than 200 people testified in favor of the measure, which received a final vote of 9-2.
Commemorating the 45th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
Today marks the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling in which the Supreme Court stated that access to abortion is protected under the right to privacy, legalizing abortion across the United States. The right to privacy is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
Trump Administration Blocking Unaccompanied Minors from Accessing Abortion
On Friday morning, a federal appeals court in Washington DC ordered the Trump administration to find a sponsor for a pregnant 17-year-old undocumented immigrant in federal custody so that she can access an abortion without government facilitation. For weeks, the Trump administration has been desperately trying to obstruct her judicially approved abortion.
Thousands of Wisconsin Voters Blocked by Voter ID Laws in 2016 Election
A recent study shows that as many as 23,000 eligible voters in Wisconsin were discouraged from casting a ballot in the 2016 presidential election due to the state’s voter ID laws.
Today is National Voter Registration Day
Today, September 26, is National Voter Registration Day. First celebrated in 2012, National Voter Registration Day serves to raise awareness about voter registration deadlines so that all eligible voters are able to participate in upcoming elections.
Abortion Clinics in Texas Help Women Impacted by Hurricane Harvey
Whole Women’s Health (WWH), a group of clinics that provide abortion care and other reproductive health services, announced on September 8th that it will offer free abortions to women impacted by Hurricane Harvey in Texas for the entire month of September. They have stated that they will set up four locations in Texas in partnership […]
Anti-Abortion Law in Texas Temporarily Blocked by Federal Judge
Last week, a federal judge handed down the decision to temporarily block a anti-abortion law set to take effect in the state of Texas on September 1. The law, SB 8, would have gone into effect on Friday and banned two types of procedures that are usually used in second trimester abortions. The two types […]
US District Court Strikes Down Texas’s Revised Voter ID Law
United States District Judge Nelva Gonzalez Ramos handed down a decision to strike down Texas’s revised voter ID law (Senate Bill 5) on the basis that it continues to discriminate against African American and Latino voters. Judge Gonzalez Ramos issued a 27 page decision on the 23rd of August stating that the voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act and is unconstitutional.
Texas Passes Bill to Restrict Abortion Access with New Insurance Mandates
The bill bans all private health insurance plans and plans sold through the Affordable Care Act marketplace from covering abortion care unless the life of the woman is directly at risk. Instead, women would be required to buy supplemental insurance should they ever think they may need or want an abortion, prompting some Democratic lawmakers to accuse Republicans of forcing women to buy “rape insurance.”
Two Controversial Bills to Watch in Texas’s Special Legislative Session
There is less than nine days left in Texas’s special legislative session and two of the most controversial bills being considered have yet to make it to the Governor’s desk for signature.
Texas’s Dangerous Plan for Women Being Reviewed by Department of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services is currently considering a waiver that would allow Texas to receive federal Medicaid family planning funds despite the state’s refusal to follow federal law by banning providers who offer abortion care, like Planned Parenthood, from receiving federal Medicaid family planning funds. Texas also wants HHS permission to impose […]
Texas Supreme Court Undermines Marriage Equality
On Friday the Texas Supreme Court discarded a lower court’s ruling that spouses of gay and lesbian public employees are entitled to government-subsidized marriage benefits. The court argued that, although Obergefell v. Hodges requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages, it does not mandate that states “provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons.”
One Year After Whole Woman’s Health Ruling Little Has Changed
The ruling was welcomed by women and clinics across the country, as dozens of other states had passed hundreds of targeted restrictions on abortion providers since 2010, but the devastating impact of the laws had already been felt by many.
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Texas to Sign Into Law Fetal Burial Requirement
Senators voted last week to send anti-abortion bill SB 8 to the desk of Governor Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law soon. The bill itself, an overt attack on women’s physical and psychological health, requires fetal remains to be buried or cremated, prohibits donations of fetal tissue, and implements sweeping bans on certain types of second trimester abortions.
Three Texas Voting Laws Ruled Racially Discriminatory
In 2013, the Supreme Court overturned the provision requiring specific states to seek federal approval, freeing Texas to pass whatever election laws it pleased. Voting rights activists have stated that if that provision of the Voting Rights Act was still in place, Texas taxpayers would have been spared the significant legal costs incurred defending these unconstitutional laws.
Justice Department Withdraws Objection to Texas’ Voter ID Law
On Monday, the Justice Department withdrew its Obama era objection to Texas’ draconian voter ID law, claiming that the Department, now under President Trump and Attorney General Sessions, no longer believes the law was passed with discriminatory intent.
Planned Parenthood Medicaid Cuts Blocked by Texas Judge
U.S District Judge Sam Sparks ruled that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission provided no tangible evidence to warrant the funding ban.
