The U.S. Supreme Court left abortion providers only the narrowest avenue to challenge the ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Friday’s Texas Supreme Court ruling has effectively ended that federal legal challenge.
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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Transgender Texans
Judge temporarily blocks Texas investigations into families of trans kids
District Judge Amy Clark Meachum said the governor’s directive for the state child welfare agency to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their children was “beyond the scope of his authority and unconstitutional.” The statewide injunction will remain in effect until the case is heard in July.
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Foster Care in Texas
Texas’ child welfare agency ordered to investigate trans kids’ families has been in crisis for years
The Department of Family and Protective Services has been under federal court monitoring for over a decade for violating the civil rights of kids in foster care. Now, the short-staffed agency has to investigate parents who provide their children with gender-affirming care.
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Transgender Texans
Court upholds order stopping child abuse investigation into Texas trans teen’s family
The appeals court’s decision allows a lower court to hold a hearing on whether Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to investigate certain gender-affirming care as child abuse can stand.
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Transgender Texans
Parents of a trans child who reached out to Attorney General Ken Paxton over dinner are now under investigation for child abuse
Amber Briggle had hoped inviting Paxton to dinner might soften his views about transgender children. Now, the family is under investigation after he issued an opinion equating gender-affirming medical care with child abuse.
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LGBTQ+ Texans
As Texas targets trans kids, their families scramble to find lawyers
Ever since Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state’s child welfare agency to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their children, LGBTQ-affirming family lawyers statewide have been deluged with calls.
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Transgender Texans
Attorney General Ken Paxton appeals restraining order that blocked state agency from investigating trans teen’s family
A Texas judge was scheduled to consider a statewide injunction on investigations of parents over obtaining gender-affirming care. The appeal now puts the hearing on hold.
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Health care
Six months in, “no end in sight” for Texas’ new abortion law
The law is having ripple effects as clinics around the country take in Texas patients and more women turn to self-managed abortions.
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Health care
Demand for abortion-inducing medication spiked after Texas’ near-total ban on the procedure
One international nonprofit saw a more than 1,000% increase in requests for the two-drug regimen, which state law prohibits sending through the mail.
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Health care
Narrow challenge to Texas’ abortion law argued before state Supreme Court
Abortion providers are trying to find a legal avenue that will allow them to directly challenge new restrictions that have effectively banned the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy.
