Hey, Texplainer: Some people are comparing an omnibus abortion bill in the Texas Legislature to an Arizona law that was ruled unconstitutional. Are the measures the same? 

A tweet by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst that uses an advertisement by a reproductive rights group to praise the Senate’s approval of abortion restrictions late Tuesday evening was the subject of plenty of attention Wednesday.

Special sessions are for emergencies — for finding solutions to problems that can't wait for the next regular session. Sometimes, the emergencies are beyond anyone's control. Sometimes, like now, they're manufactured in Austin.

A panel of state senators will convene on Thursday to respond to Gov. Rick Perry’s call to add legislation related to abortion procedures, providers and facilities to the special session.

The special session's agenda now includes the hot-button issue of abortion — which is sure to spark partisan warfare. Gov. Rick Perry also ordered the Legislature to take up a measure dealing with sentences for 17-year-olds convicted of capital felonies.

Ahead of a Wednesday bill-passing deadline, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has sent an email to supporters urging them to ask their senators to vote out several anti-abortion measures.  

On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Deadlines in the Texas House have come and gone. Now lawmakers are left to pick up the pieces for next session, or to find another way to get their bills passed.

At the Trib's April 25 symposium on health care at the University of Texas at Austin, Emily Ramshaw talked about the state of women's health in Texas with state Reps. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, and Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola; Amy Hagstrom Miller of Whole Woman's Health; and Joe Potter of UT-Austin's Population Research Center.

A bill advancing through the state Legislature could drastically decrease the number of legal abortion facilities in the state.

A Senate committee has advanced a controversial bill that critics say amounts to a backdoor abortion ban in Texas.

The Texas House Women’s Health Caucus has announced plans to try to repeal the 24-hour waiting period imposed by the abortion sonogram law that legislators approved in 2011.

Texans haven't changed their overall views on the availability of abortions. But a majority favors a "fetal pain" proposal that would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. 

Two House Republicans filed a “fetal pain” bill on Tuesday that would ban abortions 20 weeks after conception. Gov. Rick Perry has publicly expressed support for the measure. 

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday considered legislation to tighten abortion restrictions.

The state's Republican leaders each took turns at the microphone on Saturday afternoon to rouse what Gov. Rick Perry called a record crowd at the annual Texas Rally for Life.

In this edition of the Newsreel: Legislative debate over women's health funding, abortion and Planned Parenthood has started. This week is the 4oth anniversary of the Rove v. Wade ruling. Lawmakers are talking again about guns on campus.

Full video of my January 22 TribLive conversation about family planning and women's health with state Reps. Donna Howard, D-Austin, and Sarah Davis, R-West University Place.

At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, and Donna Howard, D-Austin, talked about the possibility of legislation in the 83rd session restricting access to abortions.