Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did
https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-maternal-mortality-analysis-methodology
Dispatch from the inside: A prisoner in solitary watches as guards use Tasers on a naked, mentally-ill woman in a shower, and reflects on their increasingly brutal use in the #Texas correctional system.
https://www.texasobserver.org/an-inside-look-at-taser-use-in-texas-prison/
The Way Texans Elect School Board Members Plays a Key Role in What Students in Diverse Districts Learn
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In six Texas districts that used at-large voting systems, ideologically driven conservatives successfully helped elect school board members who have moved aggressively to ban or remove educational materials that teach children about diversity.
https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-school-boards-richardson-keller-at-large-voting?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
The Brave New World of Oligarch Lordships—Apparently They’re AWESOME!
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-brave-new-world-of-oligarch-lordships-apparently-theyre-awesome
"Will #Elon soon be the sovereign over a chunk of #Texas? Are we about to start handing out #digital lordships to the top #oligarchs? I have no idea. What interests me about this, however, is that we’re actually in the midst of one such #experiment. A digital lordship is really what #DOGE is. It’s not geographical. Or rather, it’s the entire country."
Good friends in Texas are experiencing difficult times. :(
Their air conditioning failed, and temperatures are rising fast. They have a young kid.
If you feel moved to, here's where you could chip in a few bucks: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jenn-needs-your-help-ac-for-health-relief
#texas #heat #broken-air-conditioning #hvac #gofundme #lgbtq #family #healthproblems
“People are scared to go out because they go out with their kids, and they don’t want to go to a place where (people are) going to show up with guns to check whether they’re a U.S. citizen or not. That was very upsetting for a lot of people.” https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-raids-abbys-bakery-valley-los-fresnos/
The Cathedral of Saint Mary in Austin, Texas
"People are fleeing Austin, #Texas in droves. The city lost -13,500 ppl to outbound migration in 2024.
The biggest drop the city has ever experienced.
This outmigration has now caused Austin's #housing market to collapse. With home prices down 19.5% over the last two+ years.
Some of these ppl leaving Austin head to the suburbs like Williamson & Hays County, others are going back to CA & NY."
-N Gerli
It's hell living in TX -many ppl are fleeing the fascist state.
#Fascism #RedStates #USPol
“This is, as far as I know, the first allegation that someone in a ban state is providing an abortion in direct violation of abortion laws,” said Marc Hearron of the Center for #ReproductiveRights.
In a handful of cases, charges have been brought against people who provided #abortion pills to relatives, either with their knowledge or without.
…The bans on abortions around the country have largely relied on the threat of prosecution, w/few instances in which #criminal cases have actually been filed. #Abortion providers in #Texas & other states w/ abortion bans ceased operations after the decision. #Women seeking abortions have instead had to travel to states where the procedure remains legal or have received abortion medication through the mail.
The stmnt said that she had been “charged with the illegal performance of an abortion,” which has been a second-degree #felony since the state’s near-total #AbortionBan took effect in 2022. She was also charged w/practicing #medicine without a license.
Court records released late Monday indicated that a person who worked w/Ms. Rojas, Jose Ley, 29, was also arrested & charged w/the same offenses.
#KenPaxton, the #Texas AG, said in a statement that the #midwife, Maria Margarita Rojas, operated clinics in several towns around Houston, including 2 in Harris County, the state’s most populous county, & one in Waller County, a more rural & conservative jurisdiction where the charges were brought.
A #midwife & an associate have been arrested & charged w/illegally performing abortions in greater #Houston, acc/to court records & the #Texas AG, apparently the first #criminal arrests of #abortion providers since #SCOTUS overturned #RoeVWade in 2022.
#law #ReproductiveRights #health #WomensHealth #MaleSupremacy #BackAlleyAbortions
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/abortion-arrest.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=69B9A807-AD57-4712-B295-54FF457D615B
“Now what we’re seeing is a full-on assault on our state’s immunization program. Activists felt like they could take advantage of the [COVID-19 pandemic] and exploit it and start going after laws that have been on the books for decades.” https://www.texasobserver.org/measles-outbreak-anti-vax-legislation/
“It’s more government, more bureaucracy, more money, and there’s no oversight. And it’s taxation without representation,. The taxpayers don’t get to pick who these private companies are that our tax dollars are going into. So that is not a free market.” https://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-vendors-millions-legislature/
Goddamn humans are stupid:
#texas #oil company rolls out 42-mile conveyor belt to transport sand (for #fracking, of course).
"And so castles made of sand, fall in the sea, eventually..."
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/mar/16/texas-oil-company-rolls-out-42-mile-conveyor-belt/
Houston has a new measles case. Travel case (infant) not connected to the outbreak in Texas.
The Houston Health Department confirms travel-associated measles case in infant
March 16, 2025
HOUSTON - The Houston Health Department (HHD) has confirmed the city’s third measles case of 2025. The case involves an unvaccinated infant who was exposed to measles during international travel. The infant was hospitalized and has since been discharged and is recovering at home.
This case is not connected to the measles outbreak in West Texas. This case is not related to the two earlier cases of measles reported in Houston in January 2025.
@troy_frizzell @SherBeareth @Nazani
It may be hard to believe based on how consistently #Republicans win in #Texas, but it is the most purple state in the Deep South.
#Houston is an enormous blue dot. Every major city in the state has a #Democratic mayor.