Tag Archives: SCOTUS

The hearing that Paxton was trying to flee from

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s about whether the First Amendment rights of abortion funds have been abridged by threats of prosecution from people like Ken Paxton. You know, no big deal. Leaders of Texas’ most prominent abortion funds on Tuesday implored a federal judge … Continue reading →

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District court judge dismisses State Bar complaint against Brent Webster

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is a bad ruling, and it needs to be appealed. A Texas district judge has dismissed a professional misconduct lawsuit against a top aide of Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to discipline them for their effort to overturn the … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds Texas’ ridiculous social media censorship law

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Back to you, SCOTUS. A Texas law prohibiting large social media companies from banning users’ posts based on their political viewpoints will go into effect after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted a block placed on the statute. NetChoice … Continue reading →

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Republicans propose nationwide abortion ban

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It was ever thus. Republicans are struggling with the backlash against the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and a series of Republican-controlled states instituting harsh abortion bans. Voters are angry, and that anger has contributed to a reduction in … Continue reading →

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It’s the year 2022 and we’re still litigating the Affordable Care Act

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Isn’t this horse dead yet? A federal judge in Fort Worth agreed Wednesday with a group of Christian conservatives that Affordable Care Act requirements to cover HIV prevention drugs violate their religious freedom. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor also agreed … Continue reading →

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“Safe haven” laws are also not a replacement for abortion

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing a theme. What are safe haven laws? A flurry of Houston baby abandonments in the ’90s led Texas to become the first state to enact a safe haven law in 1999. Created as an incentive for parents in crisis who are unable … Continue reading →

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VA says it will provide abortions

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. The Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday it will provide abortions for veterans and their beneficiaries as medically necessary or in cases of rape or incest. The VA said it plans to provide abortions across the entire nation … Continue reading →

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A different poll about abortion in Texas

Posted on September 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting and encouraging, but I’m not sure I buy it. One year after Texas implemented what was then the most restrictive abortion law in the country, a majority of Texas voters are expressing strong support for abortion rights. In a … Continue reading →

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Investigating abortions is Houston’s “lowest priority”

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

So says Mayor Turner, and I’m glad to hear it. Mayor Sylvester Turner said Thursday that investigating abortions under the state’s near-total ban is the city’s “lowest priority” when it comes to crime. Turner said the city would continue to … Continue reading →

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Of course the redistricting lawsuit trial will be delayed

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

All we ever get is delays. The legal fight over the shape of Texas political representation for the next decade won’t be decided until next year after a federal panel agreed Tuesday to delay a trial over new political maps. … Continue reading →

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More on the targeting of medical abortion

Posted on August 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The end goal has always been a complete national ban on abortion. The “return it to the states” nonsense is a dodge to make you think it won’t be that bad and the people claiming it’s about a national ban … Continue reading →

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A different EMTALA ruling in Idaho

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. You know where this goes from here. A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Idaho from enforcing a ban on abortions when pregnant women require emergency care, a day after a judge in Texas ruled against President Joe Biden’s … Continue reading →

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Paxton’s State Bar disciplinary hearing

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We are slowly moving towards finally having some kind of result in this saga. Lawyers for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued Wednesday that a Kaufman County judge should toss a lawsuit alleging he acted unethically in a legal challenge … Continue reading →

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Restraining order granted in Paxton’s EMTALA lawsuit

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. Texas hospitals will not be required to provide emergency abortions after a federal judge ruled the Biden administration was unauthorized to enforce such a rule. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock ruled that the guidance by the … Continue reading →

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There’s still a lot of confusion about how Texas’ abortion ban will be enforced

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

There will be chaos, in addition to the fear and danger to pregnant people that already exists. Abortions are already effectively outlawed in Texas, where clinics closed after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. But a new … Continue reading →

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Abortion funds file First Amendment lawsuit for their right to assist others access abortion

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what SCOTUS does with this one, because for sure that’s where this will end up. Reproductive rights groups on Tuesday filed a federal class-action lawsuit to head off possible prosecution from Texas officials for helping Texans gain access … Continue reading →

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I don’t know why anyone thinks that IVF will be safe in Texas

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

That’s what people are saying now. Abortion bans across the country have thrown into question the fate of in vitro fertilization, an expensive medical process that helps people become pregnant. But experts and anti-abortion groups say Texas’ laws shouldn’t apply … Continue reading →

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Adoption is not a replacement for abortion

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone who tells you otherwise is at the very least misinformed. More likely, they’re just lying. Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the loss of abortion access in many states, some conservative leaders have suggested abortion is unnecessary … Continue reading →

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If your advocacy includes convincing children to carry their rapist’s baby to term, your advocacy is bad

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Towards the end of this overall infuriating story about “crisis pregnancy centers” in Texas, we come to a quote that stunned me so hard I had to step away from the computer for a few minutes. If they can get … Continue reading →

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More on polling about abortion

Posted on August 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not a new poll, but a closer look at the June UT/Texas Politics Project poll, with a longer look back at over a decade’s worth of polling data. Under current Texas law, abortion is prohibited even in cases of rape … Continue reading →

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Dallas passes its ordinance to protect abortion access

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good job. Dallas City councilmembers almost unanimously passed the “Grace Act,” an ordinance aimed at deprioritizing investigations into abortions by local police departments. […] This new resolution prevents city resources from being used to create records for a person seeking … Continue reading →

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Acompañamiento

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Great story about the abortion access community in Mexico, which arose while abortion was criminalized there and continues now that it is legal in much of the country, and how it is starting to help women in the US, especially … Continue reading →

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San Antonio passes its abortion access ordinance

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. With a 9-2 vote, San Antonio City Council approved a resolution on Tuesday that condemns Texas’ abortion ban and recommends that no local funds be used to investigate criminal charges related to abortions. “By passing this resolution, the City of San … Continue reading →

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Redistricting plaintiffs get a win on discovery

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Every little bit helps. A federal judge on Monday issued a wide-ranging discovery order requiring Texas state lawmakers to turn over documents related to the state’s congressional redistricting plans. The underlying lawsuit, filed by the League of United Latin American … Continue reading →

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Dallas joins the abortion decriminalization queue

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The Dallas City Council could consider a resolution in August aimed at blunting the impact of the Texas Legislature’s trigger law that will go into effect following the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade. Dallas’ … Continue reading →

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San Antonio will make its statement for abortion rights

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

More symbolic than anything, but it still has meaning. Five San Antonio City Council members and the mayor stood in support of a largely symbolic measure Wednesday that would attempt to “decriminalize” abortion locally. Council is expected to approve a resolution during a … Continue reading →

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Ted Cruz says Texas should repeal its anti-sodomy law

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I feel obligated to note this. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the most socially conservative Texans serving in Congress, told The Dallas Morning News that Texas should repeal its now-dormant law that bans gay sex. “Consenting adults should be … Continue reading →

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More on the seafaring abortion clinic

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

There were a couple of stories on that proposed abortion clinic on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico, which will operate in federal waters and thus be outside state jurisdiction. The clinic is intended to serve women in the … Continue reading →

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Texas sues USDA over LGBTQ protections

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the story, which I’ll get to in a minute. It might be best to try to summarize this more accurately, because this is one of those technical situations where it takes a lot of qualifiers to get at what’s … Continue reading →

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Abortion penalties will increase on August 25

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its official judgment in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, clearing the way for Texas’ “trigger law” banning almost all abortions to go into effect Aug. … Continue reading →

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Another story about the chaos that has been unleashed by banning abortion

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

There will be more to come for as long as this situation remains. A sexual assault survivor chooses sterilization so that if she is ever attacked again, she won’t be forced to give birth to a rapist’s baby. An obstetrician … Continue reading →

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There’s a lot of anti-LGBTQ litigation out there

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is where we are. In the wake of the toppling of Roe v. Wade and with Justice Clarence Thomas urging the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit rulings on gay sex … Continue reading →

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Austin takes its shot at protecting abortion access

Posted on July 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them great success. I don’t think the fanatics in the Legislature will let them achieve it, but we’ll see. Austin City Council unanimously (in the absence of lone Republican Mackenzie Kelly) approved four items on Thursday, July 21 … Continue reading →

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The religious freedom argument for abortion

Posted on July 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Hope this works. For obvious reasons, I’m not terribly optimistic. But it’s worth a shot. The rabbi whose progressive synagogue sued the state of Florida over a bill that would ban abortions after 15 weeks, arguing that it infringes on religious … Continue reading →

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