Texas
U.S. Senate Democrats denounce post-Dobbs landscape of state abortion bans, restrictions
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats at a Wednesday hearing explored how nearly a year after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, multiple states and conservative-backed lawsuits are restricting access to reproductive care. The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said the recent Texas lawsuit challenging […]
Democratic leaders warn abortion pill ruling could endanger other FDA-approved drugs
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democratic leaders vowed to defend reproductive rights and abortion access Saturday, less than a day after a federal judge in Texas ruled the federal government needs to pull the abortion pill off the market within a week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the […]
What plaintiffs targeting abortion pill want might not even be possible
At the center of the federal anti-abortion lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the abortion drug mifepristone and the regimen that reportedly accounts for the majority of abortions in post-Roe America. That’s why the whole country is bracing itself for a ruling from a notoriously anti-abortion judge in Amarillo, Texas. The attention […]
Federal judge could decide as soon as February to yank abortion pill nationwide
WASHINGTON — A Texas judge could decide as soon as next month whether to force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pull its two-decade-old approval of the abortion pill, which accounts for more than half of pregnancy terminations in the United States. A nationwide injunction in the case, as requested by anti-abortion groups, would […]
“Thanks, and God bless you”: Asylum-seekers allowed to enter U.S. after “remain in Mexico” ends
Two weeks after a federal judge allowed the Biden administration to end the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols, U.S. judges are beginning to allow migrants to stay in the country as their asylum claims are pending. EL PASO — Willian woke up before dawn on a recent Tuesday, packed his legal documents into a blue folder […]
Jewish congregations mount legal challenges to state abortion bans
WASHINGTON — Thousands of years of Jewish scripture make it clear that access to abortion care is a requirement of Jewish law and practice, according to Rabbi Karen Bogard. “We preserve life at all costs,” she said in an interview with States Newsroom. “But there is a difference between that which is living, and that […]
Federal judge sides with Texas, blocks HHS guidance on emergency abortions
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge has granted the Texas attorney general’s request to temporarily block guidance from the federal government that says federal law protects health care providers who perform abortions to save the life or health of pregnant patients in emergency situations. Judge James Wesley Hendrix wrote the U.S. Department of Health and […]
Twenty states, D.C. join in opposing Texas lawsuit on emergency abortion care
North Carolina's Josh Stein is among the signatories WASHINGTON — Attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a brief in federal court on Tuesday, challenging Texas’ assertion that states shouldn’t have to comply with a federal law that protects doctors who end a pregnancy to save the patient’s life. The brief argues the judge in the case shouldn’t grant Texas’ request for preliminary injunctive relief...
Federal law that protects emergency life-saving abortions challenged in Texas suit
WASHINGTON — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Thursday, arguing that states shouldn’t have to comply with a federal law that protects doctors who perform abortions to save the patient’s life. “This administration has a hard time following the law, and now they are trying to have their appointed […]
Voting snafus in Texas primary show what may be on the way for other states
HOUSTON — Standing outside a polling location in the historically Black neighborhood of Kashmere Gardens on Election Day, lieutenant governor candidate Carla Brailey predicted that Texas’ performance in 2022’s first primary would gain national attention — no matter the outcome. Texas is already a model for other Republican-controlled states for its new law that makes it much tougher to vote for many elderly, low-income and non-white citizens, said Brailey, who went on to lose in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
Texans go to the polls under sweeping new voting restrictions
HOUSTON — With less than two days until Texas’ primary election, Cedric and Myrtis Tatterson sat in a community center gym in Houston to fulfill the training required of them as election judges. Though they have both served as judges in numerous past elections, Tuesday’s primary will be the first since Texas’ Republican-controlled legislature passed […]
Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: Mayberry abortion law enforcement
MAYBERRY, N.C. (Sometime in the not-so-distant future….) Gomer: “CITIZEN’S ARREST! CITIZEN’S ARREST!!! Stop right there, Thelma Lou! You need to come with me right now. I’m going to get a minimum of $10,000 because it looks like you were thinking ‘bout getting an abortion to me.” Thelma Lou: “Gomer, don’t be absurd. You know a […]