Fetal “heartbeat” bill, which could ban abortions at six weeks, nears passage in the Legislature
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has signaled that he is looking forward to signing the bill. Full Story
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![A visitor of the House gallery listens to legislators speak during a debate on an abortion bill being considered on the House floor on May 5, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Lubbock votes to become the state’s largest “sanctuary city for the unborn”
The outcome could prompt a lawsuit over what opponents say is an unconstitutional ban on abortion. The vote comes less than a year after Planned Parenthood opened a clinic in the West Texas city. Full Story
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![Sara Mistrot campaigns for Proposition A with her kids at the corner of Indiana and 82nd Street on May 1, 2021, in Lubbock.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Lubbock voters will decide Saturday if the West Texas city will become the largest “sanctuary city for the unborn”
While proponents of the proposed ordinance view abortion as an “inconceivably wicked action,” detractors say it would be immediately challenged in court and that battles over abortion access are best fought at the state and federal levels. Full Story
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![A banner supporting a proposed city ordinance that would ban abortions inside Lubbock city limits hangs from Southcrest Baptist Church on April 27, 2021, in Lubbock. The ordinance goes to a public vote on the May 1 election.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
House committee advances anti-abortion bills, including ones aimed at outlawing the procedure in Texas
The bills now head to the full House for debate. Versions already passed by the Senate are also pending. Each measure will need to be approved by both chambers before becoming law. Full Story
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![Information and diagrams inside a medical room at a Planned Parenthood in south Austin on Jan. 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Bills restricting abortion, including one that bans procedure as early as six weeks, gets Texas Senate OK
The slate of bills must still go to the House for approval. Full Story
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![A women’s health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers push bill to make it easier to sue abortion providers and harder for new anti-abortion laws to be blocked by courts
The provisions are packaged in one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority measures, dubbed the “heartbeat bill.” Senate Bill 8 would ban abortions as early as six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. Full Story
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![A nurse practitioner consults with a patient at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune -
Slate of Texas legislation limiting abortion, including so-called “heartbeat bill,” heads to Senate
The legislative session that began in January has been driven by the coronavirus pandemic and the response to last month’s power crisis. But abortion-related measures dominated a Senate State Affairs committee hearing Monday, and lawmakers advanced all of the proposals. Full Story
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![A women's health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Another Texas GOP lawmaker is attempting to make abortion punishable by the death penalty
Similar bills filed in the Texas Legislature in previous years have failed. Full Story
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![An ultrasound machine at women’s health clinic in Austin, Texas.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune -
Texas voters' views shifting on abortion, pot, gambling and Confederate monuments, poll finds
According to the latest UT/TT Poll, most Texas voters support expanded gambling and would legalize marijuana. Half would leave Confederate statues and monuments where they are. And they're divided on whether to change state abortion laws or leave them as is. Full Story
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![A container of dried hemp plant with leaves and stems on Jan. 23, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Republican lawmakers push to make Texas’ anti-abortion laws among the most restrictive in the nation
With the GOP in control of state government and “a favorable backstop from the courts, it’s going to be a no-holds-barred approach for Republicans on abortion,” one political science professor said. Full Story
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![Protesters demonstrate against abortion at the Texas Rally for Life on Jan. 23, 2021, at the state Capitol in Austin.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
In win for Planned Parenthood, U.S. Supreme Court wipes case law supporting Texas pandemic abortion ban from the books
The high court vacated two rulings from the lower U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with Texas GOP officials arguing that Gov. Greg Abbott’s March 2020 executive order prohibited abortion under all but a few narrow circumstances in an attempt to preserve medical resources for COVID-19 patients. Full Story
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![One of the six exam rooms at Haven Health Clinics in downtown Amarillo on Dec. 9, 2013. The clinic provides services for women and some men in the 26 county region of the Texas panhandle.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
Early in the pandemic, Texas banned most abortions. After the ban lifted, second-trimester abortions jumped, a new study shows.
Texas officials cited a need to preserve medical supplies as a reason to crack down on abortions. A new study finds that many Texans left the state during this time seeking the procedure. Full Story
![A women's health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas can kick Planned Parenthood out of its Medicaid program, federal appeals court rules
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday sided with state officials. Planned Parenthood said it will continue to serve patients for now, since the order has not yet taken effect. Full Story
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![A Planned Parenthood examination room in Austin on Jan. 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas' attempt to ban common abortion procedure blocked by appeals court
Women in Texas can continue to access the most common procedure used to end a pregnancy in the second trimester, after a federal appeals court Tuesday struck down a state law that would have curtailed its use. Full Story
![A nurse practitioner consults with a patient at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune -
From abortion access to immigration, the battle over the open Supreme Court seat will affect Texas for a generation
Just days after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Republicans and Democrats are already engaged in an expensive and divisive fight over the future of the Supreme Court. Full Story
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![People gathered outside of the U.S. Supreme Court following the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in Washington on Sept. 19, 2020.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott used pandemic as cover to ban abortions in Texas, former Planned Parenthood head says
Cecile Richards, a Texas native, made the comment in an interview during The Texas Tribune Festival that aired Wednesday. Limits on abortion access earlier this year spurred legal battles. Full Story
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![Former 2006-2018 head of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards talks about her years in the trenches with Anna Palmer of Politico at the Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 29, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Supreme Court affirms abortion protections, strikes down Louisiana abortion law
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law Monday that would have curtailed access to abortions in the state. It was nearly identical to a measure the court overturned in Texas in 2016. Full Story
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![The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 28, 2020.]()
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Texas voters overwhelmingly approve of business closures, stay-at-home orders despite blow to state's economy, says UT/TT poll
The poll results come as Gov. Greg Abbott prepares to announce his plans for reopening a wide range of Texas businesses. Full Story
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![Shuttered restaurant in Waco on March 25, 2020.]()
Credit: Angela Piazza for The Texas Tribune -
Texas clinics resume abortion services as state acknowledges ban is no longer in place
A new order from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that took effect Wednesday allows more procedures to resume in health care facilities that agree to reserve a certain number of beds for coronavirus patients and refrain from seeking scarce protective equipment from public sources. Full Story
![A women's health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Federal appeals court says Texas can block pill-induced abortions during pandemic
In March, Gov. Greg Abbott barred all procedures not “immediately medically necessary,” and the state’s attorney general declared that the restriction applied to abortions — sparking a weekslong court fight and prompting some women to seek abortions out of state. Full Story
![An ultrasound machine at women’s health clinic in Austin, Texas.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune