New Texas law restricting abortion pills beefs up an existing legal tool
HB 7, which was signed by the governor Wednesday, allows private citizens to sue abortion pill providers and manufacturers, mirroring a 2021 law on abortion bans Full Story
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Jessica Shuran Yu was a 2025 reporting fellow based in Austin. She earned a master’s in journalism from the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, where she covered a variety of beats, including education, health care, and gender-based violence for Columbia News Service and her master's thesis. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Fordham University, where she freelanced sports stories for The Guardian US and reported for her campus newspaper, The Observer. Her reporting also has been published in Documented NY. Before studying journalism, Jessica was a competitive figure-skater for more than a decade. She speaks Mandarin.
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![Misoprostol on the shelf at Parker Road Drug Store in Greenville, S.C., on June 13, 2024.]()
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Texas lawmakers limit use of parent-child reunification therapy in custody battles
Opponents of reunification therapy say it can psychologically harm children, while supporters say it’s unnatural for children to reject parents. Full Story
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![Tiffanie O'Brien, right)=, looks toward her daughter, Abbey, as they sit in their neighbor’s home near Lake Austin on Aug. 8, 2025. Both women testified in favor of banning reunification therapy, a form of court ordered family therapy that Abbey started going into her final year of high school in 2024. Abbey and her mom were separated for several months without a way to communicate with one another so that Abbey could spend time with her dad.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett for The Texas Tribune -
Texas sued over its lab-grown meat ban
Two California-based companies accuse the state of government overreach for banning the sale of their products for the next two years. Full Story
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![Roy Mills checks on the cattle at J&R Mills Family Farms, on Wednesday February 26, 2025, in Nacogdoches County.]()
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Former Texas Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, author of 2013 abortion restrictions, dies
Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, announced her passing Monday, calling her “one of the first and most effective fighters” for the anti-abortion movement. Full Story
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![Then-state Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, speaks at a press conference at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 25, 2017.]()
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Only one restaurant in Texas sells lab-grown meat. Lawmakers banned it anyway.
Starting Sept. 1, cultured meat sales will be banned for the next two years even though the product isn’t ready to be sold at a large scale. Full Story
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![Cows feed on grass and food pellets at Powell's ranch in Cedar Creek, on March 28, 2021.]()
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Bill allowing private citizens to sue over abortion pills clears Texas governor’s desk
House Bill 7 allows people to sue manufacturers and distributors of the drug. Full Story
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![A bottle and pills of Misoprostol, made by Lupin Pharmaceuticals, sit in a counting tray at a pharmacy on June 19, 2019, in Provo, Utah.]()
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Texas bill protecting sex trafficking victims from some criminal charges signed by governor
Senate Bill 11 shields victims from prosecution from some crimes if they’re threatened or coerced into the act by their trafficker. Full Story
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![The state Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025.]()
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“You can’t replace memories”: Volunteers seek to return personal items after Texas floods
Volunteers are hoping to find the owners of stuffed animals, photographs and other keepsakes salvaged from the debris. Full Story
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![Michael Guyer holds photos and patches from the Heart of the Hills camp that he has found while volunteering in search efforts in the aftermath of the flood in Kerr County.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
Number missing from Hill Country floods down to 3
Officials removed nearly 100 from the list of the missing Saturday, saying many had been found safe. There was no update on the death toll, which was most recently 135 statewide. Full Story
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![Law enforcement officials and volunteers clear up mountains of debris deposited by the flood in Center Point on Tuesday July 8, 2025.]()
Credit: Brenda Bazán for The Texas Tribune -
Divorce between Ken and Angela Paxton will proceed outside public view, reports say
A Collin County judge’s reported decision could keep details of the divorce from spilling into Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate race. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses the crowd during a rally at the Tarrant County Republican Party Headquarters in Fort Worth on January 6, 2025.]()
Credit: Photo by Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribune