Tag Archives: abortion

Women affected by the abortion ban banding together

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This story is equal parts heartwarming and rage-inducing. One morning last spring, Hollie Cunningham’s father was drinking coffee and watching “Good Morning America” on his patio when he saw Austin Dennard, a Dallas-area OB-GYN, on the screen. Through tears, Dennard … Continue reading →

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More on the infant mortality study

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Mother Jones takes a closer look at a recent study that showed a significant increase in infant mortality in Texas since the passage of SB8 in 2021. Since then, as wave after wave of post-Dobbs abortion restrictions have been enacted … Continue reading →

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Amarillo to vote on abortion travel ban

Posted on July 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I sure hope the opposition to this gets all the support it needs. Amarillo residents will vote on a so-called abortion travel ban in November, one of the few times Texas voters will have a say on abortion since Roe … Continue reading →

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Future doctor shortage update

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Still going in a worrying direction. According to new statistics from the Association of American Medical Colleges, for the second year in a row, students graduating from U.S. medical schools were less likely to apply this year for residency positions … Continue reading →

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The leaked EMTALA draft is not a victory

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This hit the internet like a thunderstorm yesterday. The US Supreme Court is poised to allow abortions in medical emergencies in Idaho, according to a copy of an opinion that was briefly posted on the court’s website. The decision would … Continue reading →

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“Five abortions a month”

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A stark headline from the Trib. In the last two years, Texas abortion clinics closed, legal challenges raced through the court system, towns tried to ban out-of-state travel, conservative activists made abortion pills and emergency rooms into battlegrounds, and woman … Continue reading →

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Texas Medical Board publishes its useless abortion guidance

Posted on June 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

You already know how I feel about this. The Texas Medical Board on Friday adopted guidance for how doctors should interpret the state’s new abortion laws, reducing paperwork requirements some saw as overly burdensome but declining to provide a list … Continue reading →

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SCOTx declines to take up IVF appeal

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A small victory. The Texas Supreme Court has declined to take up a major in vitro fertilization case that could have potentially upended access to the procedure. The justices allowed a lower court’s opinion to stand, and, for now, sidestepped … Continue reading →

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Another Speaker contender

Posted on June 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I suspect this list will get longer. Whether they all make it to the actual vote for Speaker is another story. State Rep. Shelby Slawson announced Thursday she is running for Texas House speaker, becoming the second member to challenge … Continue reading →

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SCOTx upholds abortion ban in Zurawski lawsuit

Posted on June 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know if the Supreme Court intended to bury the news of this stinker of a ruling on a Friday, but boy howdy if that was their intent did they ever pick the right Friday to do it on. … Continue reading →

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Of course no one likes the Texas Medical Board’s proposed abortion guidance

Posted on May 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This was never a viable path forward. It was and is doomed to fail. When Sarah Harrison addressed the Texas Medical Board at a virtual hearing Monday, she added her name to the growing list of Texas women who have … Continue reading →

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Of course there’s a court case that could upend IVF in Texas

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Whether it gets to the Supreme Court or not is the key. The Texas Supreme Court is considering whether to take up a case that could have Alabama-esque impacts on in vitro fertilization in Texas. What began as a Denton … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit over Alabama AG’s threats against abortion travel can proceed

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. A federal judge smacked down a series of threats by Alabama’s Republican attorney general to prosecute groups that help women obtain out-of-state abortions, wading into a debate over access to the procedure that has lingered since the Supreme … Continue reading →

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Our chief export these days is forced birth zealotry

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe New Mexico should build a border wall. Abortion rights opponents in Texas dictated terms and pressured officials in New Mexico municipalities to pass ordinances restricting clinics, according to public records — potentially as part of a bigger legal strategy. … Continue reading →

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Texas man seeks to “investigate” ex’s out of state abortion

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Take a couple of deep breaths and we’ll have a brief discussion of this on the other side. A Texas man has asked a court for permission to launch an investigation into his ex-partner’s alleged out-of-state abortion, which could lead … Continue reading →

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Texas Medical Board’s abortion guidance is a mess

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Doctors who perform life-saving abortions may soon be required to document whether they first tried to transfer the patient to another facility to avoid terminating the pregnancy, a move some say goes … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS hears the EMTALA case

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. The Supreme Court appeared split Wednesday in a case over whether a federal law requiring hospitals to provide appropriate stabilizing medical treatment for patients could in some cases overrule a … Continue reading →

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Is Ted Cruz ever going to feel some pressure about abortion?

Posted on April 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

News item #1: Whatever happens in Arizona in November, we got a preview of the difficulty Republican candidates will have in states where high-stakes ballot initiatives literally put abortion on the ballot. Shortly after Arizona’s high court ruled that the … Continue reading →

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The Find Out PAC

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I thought I had written about this before but I hadn’t, so here it is. Texas’ Supreme Court has taken center stage in interpreting the state’s abortion laws in cases that have garnered national attention. And a new Democratic political … Continue reading →

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Woman arrested on abortion charge sues Starr County DA

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good for her. When a Texas woman was arrested and jailed for self-inducing an abortion in 2022, her name and mugshot were quickly broadcast around the world. Three days later, the Starr County prosecutor dropped the charges and was later … Continue reading →

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San Antonio responds to “Reproductive Justice Fund” lawsuit

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck. A lawsuit over the City of San Antonio’s controversial but still undefined Reproductive Justice Fund made its way to a courtroom Thursday. While the city’s legal team tries to get the case thrown out of court, the city … Continue reading →

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Texas Medical Board issues some guidance on abortion exceptions

Posted on March 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Sort of. The Texas Medical Board proposed a broad definition for what constitutes an emergency medical exception under the state’s otherwise strict abortion ban at its meeting Friday, disappointing some abortion rights advocates who were seeking a specific list of … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit mostly upholds that wingnut anti-birth control ruling

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A tale as old as time, the Fifth Circuit doing terrible things. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas law requiring parental consent to obtain contraception for minors. The decision from a three-judge panel of the federal appeals … Continue reading →

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Texas Medical Board may issue guidance on abortion exceptions

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I trust you will forgive my skepticism about this. The Texas Medical Board will consider language to clarify what qualifies as a medical exception to the state’s abortion laws at an upcoming March 22 board meeting. The meeting agenda was … Continue reading →

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Three Ken Paxton updates

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I missed these in the recent news rush, but spotted them all more or less at once via the Google News app on my phone. Doomscrolling for the win, I guess. Whistleblowers: Texas Supreme Court must reject Ken Paxton’s ‘scheme’ … Continue reading →

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Abortion and IVF roundup

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Texas IVF patients are dealing with a lot of uncertainty right now. Heather Burzlaff has four embryos in a freezer in Dallas and she doesn’t know what to do with them. After seven years of medications, egg retrievals and waiting, … Continue reading →

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Starr County DA disciplined for that self-induced abortion murder charge from 2022

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

It’s something. Not much, but something. A Texas prosecutor has been disciplined for allowing murder charges to be filed against a woman who self-managed an abortion in a case that sparked national outrage. Starr County District Attorney Gocha Ramirez agreed … Continue reading →

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PFLAG sues Paxton over intrusive data requests

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Time for more deep breathing. An LGBTQ advocacy group is suing the Texas attorney general after his agency requested information that the group said would reveal the identities of its members, including those who sought to stay anonymous in recent … Continue reading →

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You’re not going to fall for Greg Abbott’s BS about IVF, are you?

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s count the ways in which he dodged and weaved. Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday that he supports Texas families having access to in vitro fertilization treatments and has “no doubt” the state will address issues raised by a recent … Continue reading →

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We’re beginning to quantify the effect of the abortion ban

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Three stories from the Chron about abortion and forced births. The first one involves rape victims. Read carefully. More than 26K rape-related pregnancies estimated after Texas outlawed abortions. Texas saw an estimated 26,313 rape-related pregnancies during the 16 months after … Continue reading →

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Texas Medical Board asked to clarify abortion exceptions

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

If the Supreme Court won’t do it, then what else is there? Two attorneys have asked the Texas Medical Board to clarify what qualifies as a medical exception to the state’s abortion laws, following the Texas Supreme Court’s rejection last … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS to hear Idaho EMTALA appeal

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This does sound ominous. The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would take up a case centered on abortion care in emergency medical situations, leapfrogging the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which was scheduled to hear arguments later this month. … Continue reading →

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Elevated Access

Posted on January 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

More great reporting from Texas Public Radio about the brave and creative ways that people in Texas are finding to help others get the health care they need outside the state. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit rules EMTALA doesn’t apply to abortions

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A typically crappy ruling from our least favorite appeals court. Federal regulations do not require emergency rooms to perform life-saving abortions if it would run afoul of state law, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. After the overturn of Roe … Continue reading →

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