Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold.
Eleanor Klibanoff
Eleanor Klibanoff is the law and politics reporter, based in Austin, where she covers the the Texas Legislature, the Office of the Attorney General, state and federal courts and politics writ large. She also co-hosts the weekly politics podcast, TribCast. Eleanor previously spent three years as the Tribune’s women’s health reporter, covering abortion, maternal health and LGBTQ issues. Before coming to Texas, Eleanor worked for the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, where she reported, hosted and produced the Peabody-nominated podcast, “Dig.” Eleanor was born in Philadelphia and raised in Atlanta, and attended The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
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Health care
Texas Republicans seek to clarify when doctors can intervene under abortion bans
A Senate bill filed Friday does not expand abortion access, but aims to give doctors clarity while operating under laws that come with up to life in prison.
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Health care
Paxton says trans Texans can’t use court orders to change sex on driver’s licenses, birth certificates
Per the attorney general’s nonbinding opinion, state agencies should change gender markers on government documents back to a person’s sex assigned at birth.
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TribCast
TribCast: Fights, scandals and still half a legislative session to go
The gang discusses a legislator’s lash out, a lottery scandal, and some big news from one of our own.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Will lawmakers let Texas’ maternal mortality committee review abortion deaths?
The Legislature is considering bills that would lift long-standing restrictions on how Texas’ panel can investigate maternal deaths and near-misses.
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Texas measles outbreak
Texas leaders quiet amid the biggest measles outbreak in decades
Declining vaccination rates, decreasing trust in government and a political unwillingness to endorse vaccines is shaping Texas’ measles response.
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Politics
New Texas Supreme Court chief justice calls for judicial raises, changes to bail laws
Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock embraced constitutional originalism, a judicial philosophy tied to conservatism, in addressing the Legislature.
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TribCast
TribCast: One year after the fires
On this week’s episode, the gang looks at where things stand a year after the largest wildfire in state history.
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Health care
New York doctor ordered to stop providing abortion pills to Texans
The ruling is the opening salvo in a likely lengthy battle between Texas’ abortion bans and New York’s “shield” protections for providers.
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TribCast
TribCast: What does Gov. Abbott want?
The gang talks about the State of the State, how Abbott wields power and how many priority bills are too many priority bills.