Bill that would have banned Texas minors from social media misses key deadline
House Bill 186, approved by the lower chamber in May, never received a vote in the Senate. Full Story
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![Students check their phones while waiting for the bus following classes at Lufkin High School in Lufkin on Jan. 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
Bill curbing the flow of abortion pills into Texas likely dead
Proponents of SB 2880 have singled out Rep. Ken King, House State Affairs committee chair, for letting the bill languish. Full Story
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![Nurse practitioner Debra Lynch holds a box of mifepristone, the first drug used in a medication abortion regimen. Practicing under Delaware's shield law, Lynch prescribes the pills via telehealth, largely to patients in abortion-restricted states like Texas.]()
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Texas will require state documents to reflect sex assigned at birth
Many trans Texans have changed the sex listed on their birth certificate, driver’s licenses and other documents. They say their identities will be invalidated under bill headed to governor's desk. Full Story
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![The crowd gathered at a rally for Trans Day of Visibility at the Bexar County Courthouse listens to pediatrician Dr. Lulu in San Antonio on March 31, 2023.]()
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Texas likely to expand medical marijuana program eligibility amid looming hemp ban
House Bill 46, which awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval, would include more patients with chronic pain and allow for prescribed vaporized and aerosol products. Full Story
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![An engineer at Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation in South Austin tests for impurities on April 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
New limits for personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits may become a reality in Texas
The House made changes to the proposal that leave open ways for victims to be compensated beyond medical bills. Full Story
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![An ambulance is parked at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas
at Austin in 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
THC ban will destroy Texas' hemp agriculture industry, farmers say
While state leaders say growers can still produce industrial hemp, farmers say they will quit growing the plant altogether under a total THC ban. Full Story
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![Ann Gauger stands in one of the Caprock Family Farms’ grow rooms, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Lubbock. “Agriculture is changing and the new age of agriculture has to be cutting edge,” Ann Gauger says.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Ban on THC products in Texas heads to Gov. Abbott’s desk after Senate agrees to House changes
The governor has not addressed whether he supports the ban, as hemp industry leaders have urged him to veto Senate Bill 3. Full Story
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![Edible THC and CBD products sit on display at Sweet Sensi, a shop specializing in THC products five blocks away from the Capitol in Austin on May 22, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature approves making vaccine exemption process easier
Instead of waiting for the state to send them one, parents would be able to print out vaccine exemption forms at home if they want to skip school-required shots. Critics believe the bill would increase infections. Full Story
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![A lab employee works on tissue cultures for research in the Tropical Medicine Lab in the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development on Oct. 5, 2021, in Houston.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Food aid cuts and other changes: What the U.S. House spending bill could mean for Texans
Many low-income families would see cuts in health care and food benefits. The state hopes for a big reimbursement for border security spending. Full Story
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![A volunteer loads a box of groceries into a truck for delivery to a nearby community in the the panhandle.]()
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"See how we do things": Austin cannabis shop invites Texas lawmakers wanting to ban THC
A bill that would make it illegal to sell THC products could soon head over to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. For a cannabis store employee, lawmakers don't know enough about the industry they're trying to shut down. Full Story
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![Topical CBD products sit on display at Sweet Sensi, a THC shop five blocks away from the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on May 22, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Bill to stop flow of abortion pills into Texas clears House panel
The bill also contains a controversial provision that says it cannot be challenged in state court before it is enforced. It goes now to the House for a full vote. Full Story
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![A patient prepares to take mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion, on Jan. 13, 2023.]()
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Texas is about to ban THC products. Here’s what to know.
The ban aims to remove products — made legal through a 2019 loophole — that provide a similar high to marijuana and are easily accessible to the general public. Full Story
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![Various Delta 8 THC products at a Valero station on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 in Spring Branch TX. Delta 8 products are currently legal in Texas due to its low amount of THC but often the amount of THC is not tested and simply possessing THC products can be enough to be arrested and charged with possession. (Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Texas may require medical records list patients’ sex assigned at birth
The bill, which is poised to become law, creates up to a $250,000 fine for medical professionals who change a patients’ listed sex outside of certain exemptions. Full Story
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![Various identity and quote pins sit in a tray in the Center for Women's & Gender Studies on Feb. 19, 2024.]()
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Retailers say Texas’ “devastating” THC ban will force them to close shop
Some hemp retailers are looking at other states, while others say they are ready to take Texas to court over a THC ban. Full Story
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![Products line the shelves of the newly restocked De Vega CBD Relief vending machine in Leander on Nov. 1, 2022.]()
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More Texas children are getting vaccinated early against measles
Fear of babies contracting the contagious and potentially deadly virus has spurred the surge in vaccinations amid Texas’ historic measles outbreak. Full Story
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![Dr. Ana Montanez holds a box containing vials of the MMR vaccine in Lubbock, Texas, on March 6, 2025.]()
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As measles outbreak continues, new parents in Lubbock face unexpected fears
Many of the patients are being treated in Lubbock, a medical hub for the South Plains where the outbreak originated. Full Story
![Kelly Johnson hold her six-week-old son, John, as seen Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Lubbock. “Normal things that are hard [in postpartum], are hard,” Johnson says, “but been having that plus keeping an eye out on a measles outbreak.”](https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/URU0s5SYuUzlKPR3CYUInbQOqnI=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ccd4cfbf039229af889cd7031bb70f6c/0409%20Measles%20New%20Parents%20AR%20TT%2009.jpg)
![Kelly Johnson hold her six-week-old son, John, as seen Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Lubbock. “Normal things that are hard [in postpartum], are hard,” Johnson says, “but been having that plus keeping an eye out on a measles outbreak.”]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature clarifies when doctors can perform life-saving abortions
The bill does not expand abortion access, but further explains when a doctor can intervene to save a pregnant patient’s life. Full Story
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![A few pieces of medical equipment are all that remain to be packed up inside the Alamo Women's Reproductive Service's Clinic in San Antonio on July 29, 2022. The clinic is closing its doors and moving to Carbondale, Illinois and Albuquerque, New Mexico to provide services there.]()
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In El Paso, measles is infecting more adults than children
Adults who are unsure whether they’re vaccinated can get additional shots, health experts say. Full Story
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![Shoppers on the sidewalk near downtown El Paso on Jan. 15, 2019]()
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Texas lawmakers are poised to ban minors from social media
The Texas Legislature has already passed a bill requiring age verification to download apps and is seriously considering another to ban children from social media. Full Story
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![Cell phone illustration.]()
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Long-running lawsuit against Texas’ foster care system appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court
Lawyers representing foster children asked the high court to reinstate a contempt order against the state, and the judge who issued it. Full Story
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![Heart Galleries, portraits of adoptable children, on display at the Child Protective Services office at Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune