An expert in COVID-19 treatment says there’s growing evidence the virus increases the risk of pregnancy complications, and booster shots aimed at the delta variant are on the way.
Health care
In-depth reporting on public health, healthcare policy, hospitals, and wellness issues shaping communities across Texas, from The Texas Tribune.
Gov. Greg Abbott wanted state lawmakers to ban mask mandates in public schools. They didnโt.
As Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to punish any school district that defied Abbottโs ban on mask mandates, Republican legislators were largely indifferent on the matter.
Justice Department exploring ways to challenge Texasโ abortion ban, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says
Garland provided no details of how federal officials may challenge one of the nationโs strictest bans on abortion. His statement came days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block the law, at least for now.
At least 45 districts shut down in-person classes due to COVID-19 cases, affecting more than 40,000 students
Caseloads have left districts scrambling when many have said they have fewer tools at their disposal to combat the spread of the virus.
Texas doctors association condemns abortion ban, says it encourages โvigilante interferenceโ in doctor-patient relationship
The Texas Medical Association called two anti-abortion bills unconstitutional and criticized the U.S. Supreme Court for not blocking the broader law from going into effect.
As Texans fill up abortion clinics in other states, low-income people get left behind
Texasโ near-total ban on abortions is sending patients out of state for the procedure. Advocates say many immigrants and women of color canโt leave, and thatโs increasing the inequities their communities suffer.
Bill limiting abortion-inducing pills heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk to be signed into law
Senate Bill 4, which was advanced by the Texas House on Monday evening, would bar access to abortion-inducing pills to patients who are more than seven weeks pregnant.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas level off just below the pandemicโs winter peak
The numbers have stayed within a few hundred of a grim milestone as the state battles the pandemicโs latest surge.
Texas abortion law a โradical expansionโ of who can sue whom, and an about-face for Republicans on civil lawsuits
Senate Bill 8, which allows anyone to sue anyone who performs or aids in an abortion, marks an unprecedented change to who has standing to bring a lawsuit. The tactic is also an emerging trend in Republican-dominated states that may compromise constitutional rights, some legal experts said.
Analysis: Texas legislators, with an assist from the U.S. Supreme Court, open a Pandoraโs box
The country just noticed what Texas was doing, and although Texans have been watching the debate over this anti-abortion law all year, even some of them were surprised at how quickly the legally protected right to abortion disappeared.


