How Texas teens lost the one program that allowed birth control without parental consent

Federal Title X clinics do not require parental consent for birth control — except in Texas, where a lawsuit upended the longstanding program.

by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune April 8, 2024April 23, 2025

News

Texas Medical Board proposes new guidance for abortion medical exceptions

The guidance was disappointing to reproductive rights advocates who were seeking more specificity and a list of conditions that could qualify.

by Neelam Bohra, The Texas Tribune March 22, 2024April 18, 2024

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Texas Medical Board to consider issuing guidance on abortion laws’ medical exceptions

On March 22, the board will discuss clarifying what counts as a medical exception to the state’s abortion restrictions.

by Madaleine Rubin, The Texas Tribune March 14, 2024March 24, 2024

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5th Circuit upholds Texas law requiring minors to obtain parental consent for contraception

A three-judge panel in New Orleans ruled that a Texas law requiring minors to obtain parental consent to obtain birth control does not conflict with the goals of the federally-funded Title X program, which has given teens birth control confidentially.

by Pooja Salhotra, The Texas Tribune March 14, 2024July 6, 2024

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Disabled Texans face more barriers to accessing abortion

Few organizations track the number of disabled individuals trying to access abortion, but abortion providers and groups that help assist Texans obtain out-of-state abortions say they are falling through the cracks.

by Neelam Bohra, The Texas Tribune February 20, 2024March 12, 2024

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Texas conservatives test how far they can extend abortion and gender-transition restrictions beyond state lines

Recent state and local legal maneuvers signal that Texas’ conservative movement could be wading into a complicated Constitutional morass the country hasn’t dealt with since before the Civil War.

by Eleanor Klibanoff and William Melhado, The Texas Tribune February 9, 2024June 25, 2024

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Hispanic and teen fertility rates increase after abortion restrictions

More than 16,000 babies were born in Texas in 2022 than in 2021, a new study from the University of Houston shows.

by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune January 26, 2024December 6, 2024

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Texas Supreme Court overturns order allowing Kate Cox to get abortion

The all-Republican court ruled that doctors, not judges, must use ‘reasonable medical judgment’ to decide when a patient qualifies for the procedure.

by Sanford Nowlin December 12, 2023May 31, 2024

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Texas Supreme Court considers abortion challenge

In August, a judge ruled that the state’s near-total abortion ban should not apply to medically complicated pregnancies. The state appealed that ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, putting it on hold.

by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune November 29, 2023January 13, 2025

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Anti-abortion groups sue San Antonio over new Reproductive Justice Fund

The suit claims the fund, which supports nonprofits offering reproductive care, is turning over taxpayer money to ‘criminal organizations.’

by Sanford Nowlin October 17, 2023August 4, 2025

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Even after Planned Parenthood stopped performing abortions, Texas is still trying to shut it down

Planned Parenthood has managed to stay open in Texas despite the state’s best efforts to shut it down. But a lawsuit in front of a conservative judge poses an existential threat.

by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune August 15, 2023November 16, 2024

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A prison guard says she was forced to stay at her post during labor pains. Texas is fighting compensation for her stillbirth.

The seven-months-pregnant officer reported contraction-like pains at work, but said she wasn’t allowed to leave for hours. The anti-abortion state is fighting her lawsuit, in part by saying her fetus didn’t clearly have rights.

by Jolie McCullough, The Texas Tribune August 12, 2023September 10, 2024

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Assclown Alert: Sticking it to Planned Parenthood with Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk

The same judge who tried to outlaw the widely used abortion drug mifepristone is now preparing to hear a dubious legal case that would slap Planned Parenthood with $1.8 billion in fines.

by Sanford Nowlin June 21, 2023September 20, 2024

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Abortion laws stand between pregnant Texans and the care they need

Doctors are left to guess at whether helping their patients will land them in prison.

by Sara Hutchinson, The Texas Observer April 2, 2023January 6, 2025

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Federal court ruling may prevent Texas teens from getting birth control without parental permission

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a former religious liberty lawyer, found that a federal program that gives teens access to birth control denies a parent ‘a fundamental right to control and direct the upbringing of his minor children.’

by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune December 22, 2022August 17, 2023

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Texas court rejects lawsuit against San Antonio doctor who violated the state’s abortion ban

A San Antonio judge ruled that people who aren’t directly harmed by an abortion have no standing to sue over its provision.

by Sanford Nowlin December 9, 2022March 15, 2024

News

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.

by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune November 2, 2022January 2, 2024