Sophie Novack

Texas Gov. Abbott's summer special session agenda released today calls for further abortion restrictions—potentially reviving this sweeping, unprecedented bill targeting abortion pills that narrowly failed to pass last session. Background:

boltsmag.org/texas-1925-a...

slate.com/news-and-pol...

On this—as is often the case—Texas offers a warning. Lawmakers kicked Planned Parenthood out of state women’s health programs, slashed family planning funds, shuttered dozens of clinics & funneled millions to anti-abortion groups instead. How it went (from 2019) www.texasobserver.org/inside-texas...

A major win for Texas abortion-rights supporters for now, but important to note there's still a "what's next" on this for anti-abortion activists beyond the legislative session.

Background on the sweeping anti-abortion bill:

boltsmag.org/texas-1925-a...

slate.com/news-and-pol...

Huge news. This bill was heralded as a model for other states. My guess is that it was taken down by its language blocking state courts from ruling on its constitutionality. Don't be surprised if many of these proposals are back, in TX and elsewhere, minus that idea.

major, major update: it appears that this bill has died.

the legislation did not advance in the Texas House as a key deadline passed today.

Thinking of this @propublica.org reporting today about stillbirths of unvaccinated parents during the Delta wave, before CDC had explicitly recommended COVID vaccines for pregnant people and the damage the virus did to the placentas.

www.propublica.org/article/covi...

A tweet from HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from @CDCgov recommended immunization schedule. Bottom line: it's common sense and it's good science. We are now one step closer to realizing @POTUS's promise to Make America Healthy Again.

A huge step from HHS that is at odds with science showing significant risks for young children and pregnant women — and that directly contradicts *the FDA's own publication* from last week listing pregnancy as a high-risk condition that would qualify people for this fall's Covid vaccine

As anti-abortion activists try to restrict abortion medication nationally, Texas Republicans are pushing a bill that could limit access to the pills across the country—including in medical emergencies—and provide a road map for other states to follow suit. For @slate.com: slate.com/news-and-pol...

House Passes 'Big, Beautiful Bill' That's a Vicious Attack on Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care The budget bill would "defund" Planned Parenthood, closing nearly 200 clinics, and prohibit Medicaid from covering healthcare for transgender people, no matter their age.

The bill wouldn't just cause millions to lose their health insurance, it would also:
*ban Medicaid coverage of non-abortion care at Planned Parenthood
*ban Medicaid coverage of ANY gender-affirming care (yes, adults)
*block marketplace insurance plans from covering abortion or gender-affirming care

TX lawmakers advanced this sweeping bill today ahead of a critical deadline, read more from Sophie on how this legislation would even further restrict access to emergency care here and could criminalize pregnant people

slate.com/news-and-pol...

boltsmag.org/texas-1925-a...

This sweeping anti-abortion bill passed a TX House committee today—a day after full House gave final ok to a bill meant to help clarify when doctors can intervene in life-threatening emergencies.

It could revive pre-Roe abortion ban and further restrict access to medication in medical emergencies.

I've been thinking often of this essay by @anrao.bsky.social, especially since becoming a mother myself www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Screenshot: With no end in sight and mounting hospital bills, the family is also worried about the long-term financial impact. Smith’s body is being kept alive through intensive, ongoing medical intervention—care that may continue for several more weeks. “They’re hoping to get the baby to at least 32 weeks,” Newkirk said. “But every day that goes by, it’s more cost, more trauma, more questions.”

Georgia is forcing the family of Adriana Smith, who is brain dead but pregnant, to keep her on life support for at least ten weeks and swallow the enormous bills that keep adding up www.11alive.com/article/news...

Why Hospital Policies Matter in States That Ban Abortion Our first-of-its-kind data analysis found that a seismic split emerged in how medical institutions in Texas' two largest metro areas, Houston and Dallas, treated miscarrying patients — and in their…

Under Texas’ abortion ban, the rate of sepsis shot up by more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost a second-trimester pregnancy.

Our new analysis shows the risk varies widely between the state’s two largest metro areas.

By Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser and @andreasuozzo.com

“A Backdoor Effort” to Revive Texas’ Century-Old Abortion Law - Bolts Abortion legislation moving through the Texas Legislature gives the attorney general power to enforce a pre-Roe law that could criminalize pregnant people.

NEW: Texas Republicans are pushing sweeping anti-abortion legislation that would give the attorney general new power to enforce a century-old abortion ban that could criminalize pregnant people and those who help access abortion—including out of state. For @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/texas-1925-a...

Officials Play “Accountability Ping Pong” With Jail Deaths in Texas - Bolts A bipartisan push for jail oversight comes after a North Texas sheriff flouted state law mandating independent investigations of deaths on his watch.

an infuriating story here by @sophienovack.bsky.social on TX officials dodging responsibility for their years-long failure to follow the Sandra Bland Act, a law mandating outside investigations of jail deaths so that sheriffs don’t investigate themselves

boltsmag.org/texas-jail-d...