Did party politics cost a Texas city manager and attorney their jobs?
City councils are typically nonpartisan. Odessa residents are wondering if that’s still the case after the local Republican Party helped elect new council members. Full Story
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![Odessa city manager Michael Marrero and city attorney Natasha Brooks were fired by the City Council on Dec. 13, 2022.]()
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Why Texas is unlikely to let voters decide on abortion access
A Texas Democrat is proposing a constitutional amendment stopping future abortion restrictions. Voters would have to approve it — but Republican lawmakers aren’t likely to put it in front of them. Full Story
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![Thousands of people walk in a pro-abortion protest march around downtown San Antonio on June 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Abortion helped Democrats across the U.S. hold off a “red wave.” Not in Texas.
In conservative Kansas and Kentucky, voters turned out in droves and crossed party lines to support abortion access. In Texas — where candidates, not issues, were on the ballot — there was no such surge in support. Full Story
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![Demonstrators march against the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which virtually bans abortion in the state of Texas, on June 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Rio Grande Valley abortion clinic bought by anti-abortion pregnancy center
Whole Woman’s Health, which owned the building for nearly two decades, said they were “duped” after the doctors who bought the building sold it to the McAllen Pregnancy Center. Full Story
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![A mural on the side of the Whole Woman’s Health abortion clinic in McAllen on June 24, 2022. South Texans for Reproductive Justice and Planned Parenthood South Texas organized a rally at the McAllen City Hall hours after the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade. The landmark decision ultimately ended abortion rights at the federal level.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
As abortion access evaporates, many Texans aren’t able to find care, new studies show
Several new studies show that not everyone denied access to abortions in Texas can travel out of state, but more people than ever before are seeking ways to self-manage abortions with medication at home. Full Story
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![A sign duct-taped to the front of Houston Women’s Clinic says the clinic is no longer providing abortions after the Supreme Court’s decision on June 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Watch: Abortion isn’t on the ballot, but here’s how your vote could impact access in Texas
Texans are headed to the polls for the first time since the procedure was essentially banned across the state. Texas Tribune women’s health reporter Eleanor Klibanoff explains how each ballot cast influences the future of abortion policy. Full Story
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![Lee Gaudreau, 49, of Frisco, Texas, chants pro choice slogans while holding signage during a Women's Wave protest, hosted by Bans Off Our Bodies Fort Worth, on Saturday, Oct. 08, 2022 in downtown Fort Worth.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court weighs whether to dismiss abortion funds’ defamation case against anti-abortion activist
Several abortion funds have sued anti-abortion activist Mark Lee Dickson, who called them “criminal organizations,” for defamation. Full Story
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![Mark Lee Dickson speaks during a worship service at New Hope Church in Abilene on Dec. 12, 2021, calling on the audience to sign the petition to add the abortion ban ordinance on the ballot next election. “There’s coming a day here in Abilene that we’re going to see Abilene become a sanctuary city for the unborn,” he said. “There are going to be a lot of unborn children leaping in their mothers’ wombs at that decision.”]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans in tight races open to rape and incest exceptions to abortion ban
In some battleground state legislative races, Republicans have been making overtures to those who believe the ban as too extreme. They have said they are open to revising the ban to include the exceptions — and even voiced confidence that the Legislature will do so when it reconvenes in January. Full Story
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![People rallying for abortion rights march down Congress Avenue in Austin on May 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Abortion rights supporters struggle to keep issue top of mind for Texas voters
Polling shows that a majority of voters in Texas oppose the state’s near-total ban on abortion, but they ranked the topic ninth on a list of most important issues facing the country. Full Story
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![Holly Hart, 22, bottom, speaks during a Women's Wave protest, hosted by Bans Off Our Bodies Fort Worth, on Saturday, Oct. 08, 2022 outside of the Tarrant County Courthouse in downtown Fort Worth.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Vice President Kamala Harris calls on Texans to protect reproductive and voting rights during Austin visit
In a visit to Texas’ capital, Harris rallied the state’s voters around protecting reproductive and voting rights at the ballot box next month by keeping Democrats in power in Congress. The topic of immigration was absent from Harris’ speeches Saturday. Full Story
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![Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on abortion rights with Mini Timmaraju, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Julieta Garibay, Senior Capacity Building Director for Groundswell Fund, at the LBJ Museum in Austin on Oct. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Attorney General Ken Paxton ordered to testify in abortion lawsuit after evading subpoena
A federal judge who previously quashed the subpoena ruled that the attorney general must take the witness stand in a lawsuit from abortion funds. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on April 26, 2022. Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Texas v. Texas, the enforcement of the Trump-era “remain in Mexico” policy that required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico as they waited for hearings in U.S. immigration court. (Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune).]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Immigration, abortion and economy expected to take center stage when Abbott, O’Rourke debate Friday
The debate, the candidates’ first and likely only one before the November election, begins at 7 p.m. Central time in Edinburg. Full Story
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![Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O'Rourke, left, and Gov. Greg Abbott.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton’s office knew he’d be subpoenaed before he fled his home to avoid being served, emails show
Lawyers for the state argue they didn’t know the attorney general would be served at home. Emails from opposing counsel show they tried repeatedly to serve him through his attorneys. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton at a border security briefing at the Texas DPS airport hangar in Edinburg on Jan. 28, 2022. The four whistleblowers who sued Paxton after he fired them for accusing him of bribery and abuse of office are speaking out against him publicly for the first time since filing their lawsuit.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas AG’s office sends mixed signals about whether it can fine nonprofits that pay for out-of-state abortions
Lawyers for abortion funds want Ken Paxton to testify in their lawsuit. He fled his home Monday while being served a subpoena that was later quashed by a judge. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center right, walks with Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone II, center left, and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, right, to a press conference at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on April 26, 2022. Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Texas v. Texas, the enforcement of the Trump-era “remain in Mexico” policy that required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico as they waited for hearings in U.S. immigration court. (Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune).]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Leading anti-abortion group drops support of Texas lawmaker after he pledges to support exceptions for rape
Other anti-abortion groups and Republicans said they will continue to support state Sen. Robert Nichols after his comments at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, speaks at a panel moderated by Tribune political reporter James Barragán at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 23, 2022.]()
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home to avoid being served with subpoena, court record says
In an affidavit, a process server said that the state’s top attorney tried to evade him as he attempted to deliver a subpoena from an abortion fund’s lawsuit against the state. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends a campaign event during a Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans meeting in Bulverde on May 16, 2022. Paxton criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, championed voter fraud in Texas and praised the leaked SCOTUS draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Watch a panel on Roe v. Wade at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival
Ana Marie Cox moderates a conversation about women’s health, women’s rights and an uncertain future with former state Sen. Wendy Davis, state Rep. Donna Howard and Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson. Full Story
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Republican Texas senator says he will support new rape exceptions for abortion
One of the longest-serving Republican state senators, Robert Nichols is among the first to say publicly he’d support revising the state’s abortion prohibition. He spoke Friday at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![Senate Republicans Peter Flores, Kevin Sparks, Robert Nichols and Phil King speak on a panel moderated by Tribune political reporter James Barragán at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23, 2022 in Austin, TX.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan rules out raising the minimum age to buy a firearm
At the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival, the Texas House speaker also signaled willingness to consider exceptions to the state’s abortion ban. Full Story
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![Dade Phelan, Speaker of the Texas House, speaks with Evan Smith at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23, 2022 in Austin, TX.]()
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Watch Cecile Richards speak at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival
The former president of Planned Parenthood on the end of Roe v. Wade and the fight for gender equity. Full Story
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![A title card graphic with a photo of Cecile Richards.]()