More than 150 employees resign or are fired from Houston hospital system after refusing to get vaccinated
Houston Methodist was one of the nation’s first health systems to impose a coronavirus vaccine mandate. Full Story
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![Medical personnel ralled against Houston Methodist Hospital's COVID-19 vaccine mandate outside the Baytown facility on June 7, 2021. Several employees who chose not to inoculate themselves worked their last shift Monday and will face job termination, a policy criticized by the protesters as unfair and unauthorized.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
The eviction crisis in photos: How three Texans faced losing their homes during a pandemic
With the final CDC eviction moratorium now set to expire at the end of July, three Texas families recount their experiences facing their own housing struggles over the past year. Full Story
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Texas congressional Democrats propose bill to let local governments expand Medicaid without state consent
The bill would let counties and cities apply to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for funds that were declined by their states. Full Story
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![A Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, treats a patient in Austin on Nov. 8th, 2012.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge for The Texas Tribune -
Together again: Texans venture out to make up for lost time
With Texans finally stepping out in public again, we asked photographers across the state to give us a look at people enjoying themselves after the long shutdown. Full Story
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![The Ortiz family traveled from McAllen for a viewing at the WesMer Drive-In Theatre in Mercedes in the Rio Grande Valley. The region was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Supreme Court tosses Texas-led Affordable Care Act challenge, preserving sweeping health care law
The 7-2 ruling said the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue over the law. The court’s ruling did not include an official opinion on whether the law, commonly known as Obamacare, was constitutional. Full Story
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![Protestors gathered in front of the Supreme Court in Washington D.C., in 2015, to show support for the Affordable Care Act.]()
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Watch: Meet the Texas doctors on a mission to vaccinate their rural communities
Worried about a possible resurgence of COVID-19 infections, doctors Carolyn Salter and her husband, Michael Gorby, have taken it upon themselves to get lagging vaccination rates up in rural East Texas. Full Story
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![Long lines of drivers wait for hours to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Fair Park vaccination site in Dallas. Feb. 8, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas attorney general says state board can’t ban social workers from discriminating against people who are LGBTQ or have a disability
In a nonbinding opinion, Ken Paxton said the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council doesn’t have the authority to punish social workers who refuse service to clients based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or disability status. Full Story
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![Activists and members of Austin's LGBT community gathered on the steps of the capitol to celebrate the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots. These riots signify a key moment in the birth of the modern LGBT movement in America. June 28, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune -
Health experts talk about what Texas did right and wrong in the pandemic — and what it should do differently next time
Three medical professionals discuss what they have learned about where Texas is — and where it is going — in the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Story
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Some medically vulnerable Texans feel left behind as the state returns to normal
The possibility that the vaccine won’t work — or that, as some worry, it could even hurt them — is a devastating blow after a year of sacrifice, isolation and waiting for protection against the virus. Full Story
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![Sue Foery poses for a portrait at her home in Groves on June 10, 2021.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
An anti-abortion program will receive $100 million in the next Texas budget, but there’s little data on what’s being done with the money
Critics say the fast-growing Alternatives to Abortion program is secretive and a “waste” of money. But the program has strong supporters in the Republican-controlled Legislature who say it helps those who decide to “choose life in difficult circumstances.” Full Story
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![Pregnancy and abortion related brochures from The John Paul II Life Center in Austin. June 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill to punish businesses that require proof of COVID-19 vaccination
Abbott's signature means that businesses that require so-called vaccine passports can't get state contracts and could lose state licenses or operating permits. Full Story
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![Dr. Annamaria Macaluso Davidson holds a COVID-19 vaccine registration card at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Medical Center in Houston on Dec. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers responded to the pandemic by limiting what the government can do in response to a pandemic
Lawmakers didn’t succeed in curtailing the governor's power during a disaster, but they did pass bills that prohibit so-called vaccine passports and ban the mandatory closure of churches and gun stores. Full Story
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![A state trooper stand guard outside of the door to the House chamber on opening day of the legislative session on Jan. 12, 2021.]()
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Lawsuit to block Lubbock's abortion ban is dismissed in court as the ordinance takes effect
Planned Parenthood sued to block the "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinance, passed by voters in May, but a federal judge said he didn't have jurisdiction to hear the case. The ordinance went into effect Tuesday. Full Story
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COVID-19 ravaged the state’s border counties. Now they’re leading Texas in vaccinations.
From El Paso to Brownsville, every county along the border is outpacing the state average for the percentage of residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Full Story
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![Blanca Alvarado administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a patient in Laredo. Feb. 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Jessica Nicole Rodriguez for The Texas Tribune -
Watered-down expansion of Texas’ medical marijuana program signed into law
House Bill 1535 expands eligibility for the Texas Compassionate Use Program to people with cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder. It's effective Sept. 1. Full Story
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![Newly planted marijuana plants at Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation Medical Marijuana facility in South Austin on April 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature moves to give moms on Medicaid six months of health coverage after birth
The bill would add an extra four months of health insurance for low-income women, who now get Medicaid coverage from pregnancy until two months after delivery. It now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott for signature. Full Story
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![Patients wait to be seen at the People's Community Clinic in Austin, which provides state-subsidized women's health services to low-income women, July 15, 2014.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Amid a pandemic with unequal impact, a proposal for a new Office of Health Equity died in the Texas Senate
Democratic lawmakers wanted to replace a defunded agency by creating a new office that would look at health inequities across the state. But after Republicans pulled it into ongoing debates about transgender rights and critical race theory, the bill died in the Senate. Full Story
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![Beverly Mills, a teacher at Anderson Elementary School, gets vaccinated by pharmacist Ilana Druker at Houston Independent School District’s Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Jan. 9, 2020 in Houston.]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune -
Texans can now schedule free COVID-19 vaccine clinics for groups of 5 or more
Gov. Greg Abbott encouraged “groups of Texans who wish to get vaccinated as a business, family unit, friend group, or more” to schedule an event. Full Story
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![A healthcare worker from the El Paso Fire Department administers the a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center near the Santa Fe International Bridge, in El Paso on May 7, 2021.]()
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Texas Legislature passes bill that would outlaw abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned
Called a “trigger” law, House Bill 1280 would take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe decision or after a court ruling or constitutional amendment gave states the authority to prohibit abortions. Full Story
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![A protester holds up a sign in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on the morning the court takes up a major abortion case focusing on whether a Texas law that imposes strict regulations on abortion doctors and clinic buildings interferes with the constitutional right of a woman to end her pregnancy, in Washington March 2, 2016.]()
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Texas lawmakers split over how long to extend Medicaid health coverage for new mothers
Maternal health advocates said the bill — originally pitched as a one-year extension — could reduce the state’s maternal mortality rate and offer vital help to mothers with conditions like postpartum depression or health complications in the months after giving birth. Full Story
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![Patients wait to be seen at the People's Community Clinic in Austin, which provides state-subsidized women's health services to low-income women, July 15, 2014.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune
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