The Texas House on Thursday passed a package of sweeping measures aimed at addressing a crisis in the state’s child welfare system.
Marissa Evans
Marissa Evans reported on health and human services policy for the Tribune from 2016 to 2019. Before the Tribune she reported for CQ Roll Call in D.C., where she covered state legislatures and health care issues. Her reporting has appeared in Civil Eats, NBC BLK, Cosmo for Latinas, Kaiser Health News, The Seattle Times, The Washington Post, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Star Tribune and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. She is a 2013 alumna of Marquette University in Milwaukee.
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Health care
Texas wants to renew federal women’s health funding it lost over Planned Parenthood
With a Republican president in the White House, Texas health officials are seeking to restore federal family planning funding they gave up under the Obama administration to take a stand against Planned Parenthood.
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Politics
House Freedom Caucus blocks maternal mortality bills, more than 100 others
Ahead of Mother’s Day weekend, the Texas House’s self-labeled Freedom Caucus killed two bills aimed at helping the state curb its alarming rise in mothers dying less than a year after childbirth, along with more than 100 other measures.
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Health care
House OKs bill allowing adoption agencies to reject parents on religious grounds
Faith-based adoption agencies in Texas would be able to reject prospective parents on religious grounds under a bill the state House approved Tuesday over objections from Democratic lawmakers.
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Health care
House aims to improve process of removing kids from dangerous homes
House lawmakers on Monday voted to streamline how courts work with the state’s child welfare agency to protect abused and neglected kids — and laid out concrete reasons children can be removed from their homes.
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Health care
Texas works to market health program without Planned Parenthood
The Healthy Texas Women Program is the state’s second attempt at reimagining how to provide health services for low-income women without organizations that provide abortions at some of their locations.
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Health care
Bill would spur study of why more black mothers die after childbirth
Public health advocates want a state task force focused on Texas’ rising maternal mortality rates to study how race, bias, prejudice and socioeconomics affect care for pregnant black women — who are disproportionately affected.
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Health care
Whole Woman’s Health CEO on Texas, Trump and the future of women’s health care
The Texas Tribune spoke to Whole Woman’s Health founder and CEO Amy Hagstrom Miller ahead of the Friday reopening of the organization’s Austin location.
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Politics
Nancy Pelosi mocks Trump, is bullish on 2018 midterms
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi repeatedly mocked President Donald Trump and House Republicans in a spirited interview with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith on Thursday. She said she missed the days of President George W. Bush.
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Health care
Women’s health providers say Trump-backed measure won’t affect Texas — yet
Women’s health organizations in Texas say a President Trump-signed measure targeting abortion providers will not have an affect here — yet. But it could in the coming years.