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.
Texas Fetal Burial Rule Temporarily Blocked
The fetal burial rule approved by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Texas Sued Over New Fetal Burial Requirement
Today the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas over their new rule requiring fetal tissue from an abortion or miscarriage to be either buried or cremated, a mandate that abortion rights activists say will increase both the cost and the stigma associated with abortion.
Texas Publishes Anti-Abortion Booklet Filled with Falsehoods and Lies
This week, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) released their newest edition of “A Woman’s Right to Know”, a booklet filled with factual inaccuracies and falsehoods required by state law to be given to women before undergoing an abortion.
House Select Panel Investigating Abortion Providers Is Playing Politics to Increase Budget
Yesterday the dangerous House Select Panel investigating abortion providers recommended to the attorney general of Texas that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast be investigated for criminally selling fetal tissue.
Texas Approves Rule Requiring Fetal Burial After Abortion
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services has approved new rules this week requiring clinics and doctors to bury or cremate fetal remains following an abortion.
Texas Placed Under Federal Supervision, Tries to Reinstate Draconian Voter ID Law
On Friday, Texas’ Attorney General filed a petition requesting that the United States Supreme Court reinstate the state’s draconian voter ID law, SB 14, following the remarkable move by a US District judge to put Texas under court supervision.
Texas Maternal Death Rate Doubles in Wake of Family Planning Funding Cuts
Maternal mortality rates in Texas almost doubled between 2010 and 2012, according to a new study by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Obama Administration and States in Contention over Transgender Rights
Last night, a federal judge in Texas blocked the Obama administration from enforcing guidelines that extended protections under Title IX to transgender students in public schools.
Texas’ Revised Pamphlet for Women Seeking Abortion Still Full of Innaccuracies
The state of Texas released a new draft of an informational pamphlet on abortion—and it contains numerous inaccuracies and biased information advocates say is meant to shame and scare women.
Texas Voter ID Law Ruled Racially Discriminatory by Court of Appeals
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that Texas’ law requiring individuals to show a limited selection of government issued photo identification when they go to vote is racially discriminatory. Wednesday’s ruling marks a momentous victory in an already three-year-long court battle to challenge the strictest voter ID law in the […]
Zika Virus Raises Need for Increased Access to Reproductive Healthcare
As the Zika virus spreads, at least five countries have advised women to delay pregnancy, advice that many women’s rights advocates have criticized as unrealistic and offensive given restrictive abortion laws and the inaccessibility of birth control in many of the affected areas.
Tennessee Woman Faces Jail For Coat Hanger Abortion
A Tennessee woman was arrested and charged with attempted murder last week, three months after an attempt to terminate her pregnancy using a coat hanger.
Texas Officials Raid Planned Parenthood
To date, all investigations – including those carried out in Texas – have found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Planned Parenthood.
Texas to Cut Medicaid Funding to Planned Parenthood
Texas officials announced the state will cut Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, violating federal law and denying critical reproductive health care to tens of thousands of Texas women.
Report Finds Texas’ HB2 Increases Abortion Wait Times
A new report released by the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Policy Evaluation Project found patients seeking abortions in Texas have experienced an increase in wait times since the passage of HB2, the 2013 Texas omnibus anti-abortion bill that attempts to cut off abortion access by requiring abortion providers in the state to fulfill medically unnecessary […]