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.
Health care
In-depth reporting on public health, healthcare policy, hospitals, and wellness issues shaping communities across Texas, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Texas legislators, with an assist from the U.S. Supreme Court, open a Pandora’s 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.
Posted in
Texas Abortion Restrictions
Why “heartbeat bill” is a misleading name for Texas’ near-total abortion ban
Medical and reproductive health experts say the reference to a heartbeat is medically inaccurate as an embryo does not have a developed heart at six weeks’ gestation.
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Texas Abortion Restrictions
President Joe Biden says Texas’ new abortion law “unleashes unconstitutional chaos”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the Supreme Court’s decision not to halt the law “an injustice” and Vice President Kamala Harris promised the administration would defend abortion rights.
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Texas Abortion Restrictions
U.S. Supreme Court refuses to block Texas’ six-week abortion ban
The decision came as major providers in the state said they had canceled most of their abortion appointments and advocates fretted that the procedure had been all but banned in Texas.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: New laws reflect Republican lawmakers’ focus on their right flank
From abortion restrictions to guns, the Texas Legislature’s regular session Republican victories were just the beginning.
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Texas Abortion Restrictions
Abortion providers and distraught patients confront stark realities of Texas’ new law
Texas’ strict new law sends patients scrambling for alternative ways to access abortion, including out-of-state clinics and “self-managed” procedures.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Verbal and physical attacks on health workers surge as emotions boil during latest COVID-19 wave
Stressed health workers are now confronting volatile visitors and patients. “The verbal abuse, the name-calling, racial slurs … we’ve had broken bones, broken noses,” said one hospital official in Dallas.
Posted in
Texas Abortion Restrictions
Abortion providers appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in last-ditch effort to block new Texas law banning the procedure as early as six weeks
The law, which is one of the most restrictive in the country, is scheduled to go into effect Wednesday.
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Coronavirus in Texas
The state’s sending thousands of health care workers to Texas hospitals amid a new COVID-19 surge. Will it be enough?
So far the state has paid to hire more than 8,000 contract health care workers as hospitalizations from COVID-19 in Texas approach the record set last winter.
