Texas clarified when abortions are OK and aligned with RFK Jr. on health this legislative session
Amid a quiet legislative session for health, lawmakers’ priority legislation reinforced the U.S. health secretary’s agenda. Full Story
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Terri Langford is the Tribune's health services reporter based in Austin. Langford is a veteran journalist, having worked at the Florida Times Union, The Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, WNYC, Honolulu Civil Beat and Texas Standard/KUT. Langford has a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin. She has covered various city and state agencies, criminal justice and health and human services for the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Associated Press, WNYC and Texas Standard at KUT.
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![An entire floor of the Texas Department of State Health Services Labortory building in Austin, Texas is dedicated to newborn screening. May 1, 2025.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas public health departments brace for another $119 million in federal cuts
Three months ago, Texas lost $700 million in unspent federal pandemic-era funding. Full Story
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![Mosquitoes are studied and tested for West Nile Virus, among other diseases, at the Texas Department of State Health Services Labortory, on May 1, 2025.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas foster care agency chief to step down this summer
Two years after Stephanie Muth became Department of Family and Protective Services commissioner, staff turnover is down and the number of children without a placement has dropped. Full Story
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![DFPS Commissioner Stephanie Muth listens to agency updates during a DFPS Council Meeting in Austin on March 10, 2023.]()
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Texas will begin a summer lunch program in 2027, but only if feds don’t raise costs
The program would give low income families an extra $120 per child for summer lunches, but federal debate about food benefits could endanger the program. Full Story
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![Bonham Middle School employees watch as students begin to gather for lunch in the school’s cafeteria Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
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Sodas, candy to be banned from Texas food stamp purchases
Buoyed by the Trump administration's willingness to place restrictions on food assistance programs, Texas moves to limit junk food. Full Story
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![Local convenience store and meat market El Torito serves residents living along U.S. Highway 281 in San Benito, on June 29, 2018.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
How RFK Jr., Democrats and Republicans found common ground over food labels in Texas
Texas is poised to lead the country in an initiative to inform denizens of what’s in their food. Food industry experts say it’s going too far. Full Story
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![A woman pushes her shopping cart down an aisle at a Brookshire Brothers grocery store in Buffalo, Texas, on June 29, 2023. According to clients of The Lord’s Pantry of Leon County, Brookshire Brothers is the only grocery store in the county which they describe as a food desert.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature approves making vaccine exemption process easier
Instead of waiting for the state to send them one, parents would be able to print out vaccine exemption forms at home if they want to skip school-required shots. Critics believe the bill would increase infections. Full Story
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![A lab employee works on tissue cultures for research in the Tropical Medicine Lab in the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development on Oct. 5, 2021, in Houston.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
More Texas children are getting vaccinated early against measles
Fear of babies contracting the contagious and potentially deadly virus has spurred the surge in vaccinations amid Texas’ historic measles outbreak. Full Story
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![Dr. Ana Montanez holds a box containing vials of the MMR vaccine in Lubbock, Texas, on March 6, 2025.]()
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Bill requiring Texas hospitals to report the citizenship status of patients killed in House
It is unclear whether the House bill could come back as an amendment to another measure before the legislative session ends June 2. Full Story
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![An Austin-Travis County EMS unit parked near a hospital's emergency entrance in Austin on July 7, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
Bill that would make vaccine exemptions easier to obtain clears Texas House
The bill would allow a vaccine exemption form to be downloadable. Currently, a form must be requested from the state and mailed to the recipient. Full Story
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![A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune