U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled that Texas clinics affiliated with Planned Parenthood can continue to care for patients under the state’s Medicaid program.
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.
Posted inState Government
House committee hears bills on child welfare
Advocates and families testified all day in front of House Human Services members as legislators buckled down to look at key bills that would overhaul how the state takes care of endangered children.
Posted in
Health care
Senate panel hears testimony on 3 abortion-related bills
Senate Health and Human Services Committee members heard emotional testimony from reproductive rights and anti-abortion advocates on Wednesday over Senate Bill 8, Senate Bill 415 and Senate Bill 258.
Posted in
Politics
For Dawnna Dukes, a lukewarm welcome from Travis County delegation
Dukes’ presence in the House is a sensitive topic for her colleagues in the Travis County delegation because of the 12-term Democrat’s legal issues.
Posted in
Health care
Lawmakers mull their strategies as another abortion battle looms
Texas Democrats and abortion rights advocates are strategizing amid mounting worries over what the GOP-led Legislature and federal lawmakers may do in the coming months to further restrict access to the procedure.
Posted in
Health care
Texas legislators urged to “get it right” on child welfare at rally
Standing in front of the Capitol in 80-degree heat, attendees gathered at a rally sponsored by Child Protection Roundtable of Texas and the Texas Home Visiting Coalition urging legislators to make long awaited changes to how the state handles abused and neglected children.
Posted in
Health care
At state agencies without a public crisis, workers fear they won’t see raises
Advocates for state employees hope that lawmakers approve substantial pay raises — including for state workers who don’t work at an agency that’s facing a high-profile crisis.
Posted in
Health care
Senate Finance Committee hears parents’ plea to halt therapy cuts
Parents brought their special needs children to a Senate hearing room to ask lawmakers to stop cutting services for their kids
Posted in
Health care
Texas lawmakers fired up about state CPS and foster care woes
On Monday, the Senate Finance Committee scrutinized Department of Family and Protective Services budget requests while the House Workgroup on Child Protective Services floated a proposal to make the department a standalone agency.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Federal court blocks Texas fetal remains burial rule
U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks ruled Texas cannot require health providers to bury or cremate fetuses, delivering another blow to state leaders in the reproductive rights debate.