Texas

Under One of the World’s Most Extreme Abortion Bans, Texas Doubles Down

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Texas has enforced some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States, and therefore in the Western world. By enacting a near-total ban that only allows abortions to save the life of the mother, Texas joined ranks with about 30 generally volatile countries worldwide including Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, and Myanmar. (That’s according to abortion ban tracking by the Center for Reproductive Rights, on whose website you can check out an interactive map that will make you wonder if Texas exactly counts as part of the “developed world.”)
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Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy broke the law, inquiry finds

"A Texas hospital that repeatedly sent a woman who was bleeding and in pain home without ending her nonviable, life-threatening pregnancy violated the law, according to a newly released federal investigation. The government’s findings, which have not been previously reported, were a small victory for 36-year-old Kyleigh Thurman, who ultimately lost part of her reproductive system after being discharged after receiving no help from her hometown emergency room for her dangerous ectopic pregnancy. But a new policy the Trump administration announced Tuesday has thrown into doubt the federal government’s stance on hospitals' denying women emergency abortions, even when they are…
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With Arrest of Midwife, Texas Escalates Chilling Reproductive Rights Crackdown

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.
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Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.

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

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

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

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

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

“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.”…”
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