Gov. Greg Abbott signs legislation barring trans youth from accessing transition-related care
Texas joins over a dozen other states restricting transgender minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapies. Opposing legal groups have vowed to sue to stop the new law from taking effect.
This class president is the model of a successful Texas teen. After a ban on trans health care, she can’t wait to leave the state.
For one Round Rock teen, getting accepted to Harvard was her ticket out of a state that she says is hostile to trans youth. Now Texas will ensure young people like her no longer have access to gender-affirming care.
In first session after Dobbs ruling, Texas lawmakers provide more support for pregnant and parenting college students
Now that Texas has a near-total ban on abortion, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are trying to make sure colleges are serving students who are pregnant or have children.
Texas lawmakers keep anti-abortion amendment in postpartum Medicaid extension proposal
A committee of House and Senate members agreed to a plan to extend Medicaid coverage for a year after childbirth — with a controversial anti-abortion amendment attached. The bill now goes to both chambers for a final vote.
After doctors left Dell Children’s adolescent clinic, Austin teens and their families are scrambling to find specialty care
The adolescent clinic treated eating disorders and menstrual complications. It also offered gender-affirming care — which is still legal for now but triggered an investigation by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Texas House’s weekend off means key Senate bills die after missing a legislative deadline
Priority bills that died include a 10-year minimum sentencing for gun-related crimes, a ban on “critical race theory” at public universities and LGBTQ-related legislation. While the bills may be dead, lawmakers have a limited time to attach their ideas to legislation that are still alive.
Texans would get one year of Medicaid coverage after giving birth under bill advanced by Senate committee
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and advocates have thrown their support behind extending Medicaid coverage for a full year after childbirth. The full Senate will now have the opportunity to consider the bill, which has already passed the House.
Texas schools say it’s time to stop tying mental health funding to school safety money
Federal pandemic aid helped build public school mental health services in Texas. School officials now brace for the expiration of those funds next year. They’re urging lawmakers to create a dedicated funding stream for mental health assistance in schools.
Austin doctors who treated trans kids leaving Dell Children’s clinic after AG Paxton announces investigation
Attorney General Ken Paxton previously announced an investigation into “potentially illegal” activity. Parents are scrambling to find transition-related care for their kids as the Legislature appears poised to ban it altogether.
LGBTQ Texans rally at Capitol as House set to consider banning puberty blockers, hormone treatments for trans kids
Senate Bill 14 spurred protests that led to altercations with state police last week. A majority of Texas House members support the legislation, and the Senate has already passed a version of the bill.
Texas AG Ken Paxton probing Austin children’s hospital following video of social worker discussing transition-related care
On the same day the Texas Legislature is set to debate Senate Bill 14, a proposed ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for kids, the attorney general files a request to examine documents related to the use of puberty blockers and counseling for trans youth.
Texas House moves to expand Medicaid coverage to new moms for a year after childbirth
New moms would be able to maintain their health insurance for up to a year after childbirth under the proposal, which also passed the House last session. The Senate previously reduced it to just six months of coverage.
Terrified and angry, LGBTQ Texans and allies rally at Capitol to protest bills targeting queer community
With six weeks remaining in the legislative session, advocates implored Texans to join the “resistance” against fast-moving efforts to curb health care, drag queens, education, trans athletes and more.
TribCast: A major Texas abortion case and a potential Gov. Greg Abbott pardon in a murder trial
In this week’s episode, we discuss an attempt to use the courts in Texas to restrict the use of an abortion drug and Gov. Greg Abbott’s potential pardon of an Army sergeant found guilty of murdering a protester in Austin.
Expanded access to medical marijuana gains traction as Texas House passes bill
The bipartisan legislation is an expansion on the state’s 2015 “Compassionate Use” law, which has allowed a growing number of patients to legally use cannabis to treat debilitating symptoms of conditions such as epilepsy, autism, cancer and PTSD.
Gov. Greg Abbott launches $10 million effort to combat fentanyl crisis, sends overdose-reversing meds to all 254 counties
The “One Pill Kills” campaign is funded with the help of a federal grant, and the statewide Narcan distribution is being paid for with funds from Texas’ settlement agreement with opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies.
GOP Texas senators pull their support for allowing some transgender kids to keep receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy
The Senate approved Senate Bill 14, which would ban transition-related care for transgender kids. Republicans had previously voted to allow kids currently receiving such care to continue doing so.
Texas Senate scales back proposed restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender kids
Senate Bill 14 would now allow trans children who are already receiving some transition-related treatments to continue getting that care. The Senate gave initial approval to the reworked legislation Wednesday.
Pandemic Medicaid coverage is ending. Here’s what that means for people using Medicaid health benefits.
Texas is reviewing the eligibility of people on Medicaid health plans or Healthy Texas Women now that pandemic Medicaid coverage is ending. Here’s what that means, how to renew your health coverage or find other options if you no longer qualify.
Some Texas groups resume funding out of state abortions after court ruling
A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in February, blocking a limited number of prosecutors from going after anyone who helps a Texan travel out of state to terminate a pregnancy. This has given some abortion funds confidence to resume operations.
Transgender Texans and doctors say Republican lawmakers misconstrue what science says about puberty blockers and hormone therapy
In 2021, a bill that would block transgender kids’ access to transition-related care passed the Senate but died in the Texas House. This year, a majority of House members back such a ban.
In abrupt retirement letter, an investigations director decries Texas’ “untenable” child welfare agency
Sharon Fonvielle-Baughman said Texas Department of Family and Protective Services leadership has failed to support the special investigators division, a unit created in 2005 to handle the most high-risk cases.
Houston language advocates race to keep their one small request from disappearing in Capitol bedlam
Woori Juntos began the legislative session hoping to win over a majority of legislators to their cause — making it easier for Texans who speak no or limited English to communicate with state agencies and access crucial services. First, they needed a lawmaker to file their bill.
Texas AG Ken Paxton pushes court to reconsider injunction halting investigations into affirming care
In the state’s final brief to appeal a September injunction that halted the investigation into Texas parents of transgender children, Paxton argued that individual families must provide evidence of harm from the actions of the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Conservative radio host Glenn Beck buys Roe v. Wade attorney Linda Coffee’s archive to highlight “bloody legacy”
Coffee, the last living member of the legal team that argued the landmark abortion case, put her archive up for auction. Beck bought it for $600,000. He says it will fit in with his “German eugenics” collection.
Workforce shortages in the state psychiatric hospital system prolong jail time for mentally ill Texans
The state has added more beds for jail inmates who need psychiatric treatment to be considered competent to face trial. But at least a third remain empty because the state can’t hire enough people to staff them.
Lawmakers could use $5 billion of a record surplus for raises, flood prevention and border operations
Budget proposals would boost state spending for the current budget cycle for projects ranging from mental health hospitals to state pay raises. This would leave $27 billion in surplus for next two years.
Texas Republicans have filed dozens of bills affecting LGBTQ people. Here’s what they’d do.
Texas lawmakers this year are debating whether to block transgender kids’ access to transition-related health care, classify businesses that host drag shows as sexually oriented establishments and limit public school lessons on sexuality and gender identity.
Speaker Dade Phelan endorses Medicaid expansion for new mothers, repeal of “tampon tax” in first batch of 2023 priorities
The leader of the state House also threw his support behind bills to crack down on how companies handle private data and to protect children from “addictive algorithms” by digital companies.
This Texas town has the highest rate of youth attempted suicides in the state. A grieving father hopes to reverse it.
According to a new analysis by a national health care company, Lubbock has the highest rate of attempted suicides by children between the ages of 6 and 17. A local leader suggests a dearth of resources isn’t helping.
Jill Biden invites Austin couple to State of the Union to highlight abortion access
Amanda Zurawski developed a life-threatening infection last year after her water broke when she was only 18 weeks pregnant. Citing the state’s abortion ban, her doctors refused to intervene to induce labor even though there was no way her baby would survive.
After fumbled Uvalde shooting response, Texas senator wants to make it easier to sue law enforcement officers
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat, introduced a package of legislation that includes a bill that would end qualified immunity, which shields government officials from liability for constitutional violations.
Texas family planning clinics require parental consent for birth control following court ruling
The Title X program has long provided free, confidential contraception to anyone, regardless of age, income or immigration status. A North Texas federal judge ruled in December that the program violates Texas law and parents’ rights.
Federal court ruling may prevent Texas teens from getting birth control without parental permission
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a former religious liberty lawyer, found that a federal program that gives teens access to birth control denies a parent “a fundamental right to control and direct the upbringing of his minor children.”
Texans are dying on state highways every day — especially in rural “dead zones”
Fatal crashes in rural areas accounted for 51% of Texas’ 4,489 traffic fatalities in 2021, even though only about 10% of the state’s population lives in a rural area, according to data from the state’s department of transportation.
New Texas maternal mortality report shows disparities persist
The Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee report, delayed by more than three months, estimates that up to 90% of the deaths may have been preventable. Severe complications from pregnancy and childbirth also increased significantly.