Texas – REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ALERTS

23 Mar

With Arrest of Midwife, Texas Escalates Chilling Reproductive Rights Crackdown

RandyLatest NewsAbortion Care, Abortion Rights, GOP, Healthcare, Midwife, Texas

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the arrest of Maria Margarita Rojas on March 17. The Houston-area midwife faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly performing illegal abortions — a second-degree felony — and practicing medicine without a license. The chilling announcement marks Texas’s first criminal case against a health care provider since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Two of Rojas’s employees, Jose Ley and Rubildo Matos, were also arrested.

22 Feb

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Ban, Data, data analysis, Health care, Hospital, lost pregnancy, Miscarriage, sepsis rate, Statistics, Texas, United States

"Pregnancy became far more dangerous in Texas after the state banned abortion in 2021, ProPublica found in a first-of-its-kind data analysis. The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester, ProPublica found. The surge in this life-threatening condition, caused by infection, was most pronounced for patients whose fetus may still have had a heartbeat when they arrived at the hospital...."

02 Feb

Texas’ abortion ban, among the strictest in the U.S., could get even stricter

RandyLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Healthcare, legislation, Reproductive rights, Texas, United States

Texas has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, and during this legislative session, anti-abortion advocates are hoping to foreclose on the few remaining avenues left to end a pregnancy.

07 Jan

With lawsuits and legislation, Texas Republicans take aim at abortion pills

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Pills, Healthcare, Lawsuits and legislation, legislation, mifepristone, Texas, Texas Republican Party, United States

"Since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states like Texas to ban nearly all abortions, the number of pregnancy terminations in the United States actually increased. This paradox, which pleases abortion advocates as much as it frustrates their conservative counterparts, hinges mostly on pills. An average of 2,800 Texans receive abortion-inducing medications through the mail each month from states that still allow abortion, according to #WeCount, a tracking project from the Society of Family Planning...."

30 Dec

Alarming rise in number of newborn babies abandoned in Texas unsettles towns and sparks urgent concern for women’s health care

BarbraLatest NewsAbandoned Babies, Abortin Ban, Post-Dobbs, Texas

The shocking rise in the number of newborn babies found abandoned in Texas has unnerved communities, raising urgent questions about women's reproductive health. At least 18 babies have been abandoned in the Lone Star state this year, with the latest found just before Christmas at a Whataburger fast food chain in San Antonio, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

16 Dec

Texas’ abortion pill lawsuit against New York doctor marks new challenge to interstate telemedicine

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Pills, Abortion prescription, Across State Lines, Interstate telemedicine, Lawsuit, mifepristone, New York, prescription, Telemedicine, Texas, United States

"Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, launching one of the first challenges in the U.S. to shield laws that Democrat-controlled states passed to protect physicians after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit on Thursday in Collin County, and it was announced Friday. Such prescriptions, made online and over the phone, are a key reason that the number of abortions has increased across the U.S. even since state bans started taking effect. Most abortions in the U.S. involve pills rather than procedures. Mary Ruth…

09 Dec

Campaign finance records don’t capture total spending on Amarillo abortion “travel ban” election

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Ban, abortion voting, Advertising, Ballot, Campaign, campaign finances, campaign spending, Texas, travel ban, United States, Voting

“Campaign finance records cannot account for all the money spent on advertising over an anti-abortion policy proposal in Amarillo that voters rejected last month, an analysis by The Texas Tribune and Sunlight Research Centerfound. In the months leading up to the vote, thousands of dollars poured into advertising for and against Proposition A, a local ballot measure that garnered national attention. The proposal would have opened the door for private lawsuits against people accused of using local streets and highways to drive someone else for an out-of-state abortion….”

20 Nov

Texas Lawmakers Push for New Exceptions to State’s Strict Abortion Ban After the Deaths of Two Women

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Legislation, exceptions, Health care, miscarriages, reproduction laws, Reproductive care, Texas, United States

“Weeks after ProPublica reported on the deaths of two pregnant women whose miscarriages went untreated in Texas, state lawmakers have filed bills that would create new exceptions to the state’s strict abortion laws, broadening doctors’ ability to intervene when their patients face health risks. The legislation comes after the lawmaker who wrote one of Texas’ recent abortion bans wrote an op-ed in the Houston Chronicledefending the current exceptions as “plenty clear.”…”

04 Nov

Texas OB-GYNs urge lawmakers to change abortion laws after reports on pregnant women’s deaths

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, deaths, delayed care, fatal, life saving care, Medical care, medical intervention, OB-GYN, Reproductive care, Reproductive rights, Texas, United States

“A group of 111 OB-GYNs in Texas released a letter to elected state leaders Sunday urging them to change abortion laws they say have prevented them from providing lifesaving care to pregnant women. The doctors pointed to recent reporting by ProPublica on two Texas pregnant women who died after medical staff delayed emergency care….”

27 Oct

Harris, Allred push for abortion rights in Houston while Cruz attends Trump event on border security in Austin

AlanLatest NewsReproductive rights, Texas, United States

While Texas is not a battleground state, it is competitive. The Real Clear Politics average of polls here in Texas shows Trump leads Harris by six percentage points, 51.6 percent to 45.6 percent.

25 Oct

Abortion rights at forefront of Democrats’ closing arguments

BarbraLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Reproductive rights, Texas, United States

Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech on reproductive health rights at a rally in Houston Friday night comes as Democrats across the country are expected to focus on the issue as they make their closing arguments of the 2024 campaign.

17 Oct

San Antonio’s controversial Reproductive Justice Fund likely won’t pay for abortion travel, but the issue isn’t over

AlanLatest NewsAbortion Care, Healthcare, Post-Dobbs, Reproductive rights, Texas

City staff say only two applicants included travel costs for abortion seekers; neither made list of finalistshttps://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/10/17/san-antonios-controversial-reproductive-justice-fund-likely-wont-pay-for-abortion-travel-but-the-issue-isnt-over/

15 Oct

‘We are down here fighting for our lives’: Texas exhibition highlights crackdowns on reproductive healthcare and abortion access

BarbraLatest NewsART, Post-Dobbs, Reproductive rights, Texas, United States

Focusing on works by artists with ties to the American South, “Is It Real?” raises awareness and funds for reproductive rights for communities on the front lines

08 Oct

U.S. Supreme Court lets stand a court order barring emergency abortions that violate Texas ban

AlanLatest NewsAbortion Ban, SCOTUS, Texas, United States

A court order that says hospitals cannot federally be required to provide pregnancy terminations when they violate a Texas abortion ban will stay for now, the Supreme Court said Monday.

03 Sep

Austin plans to move forward with abortion travel fund, officials say

AlanLatest NewsAbortion Care, Abortion Fund, Healthcare, Reproductive rights, Texas

The city of Austin will be allowed to move forward with plans to implement its Reproductive Justice Fund, despite a lawsuit challenging its legality, city officials said. The Reproductive Justice Fund is a provision in the city’s 2024-25 budget that is meant to provide money to people seeking out-of-state abortions due to the medical procedure being banned in Texas. City Council approved $400,000 for the fund earlier this month. The money can be used for airfare, gas, hotel stays and food.