The Texas House has the votes to pass legislation that would restrict transgender student athletes’ participation in school sports, House Speaker Dade Phelan said in an interview at #TribFest21 on Friday. bit.ly/2W9R8Pz
Three times this year — in the regular legislative session and in two subsequent special sessions — legislation targeting transgender student athletes sailed through the Senate and then faltered in the House. #TXlege
We reported in May on how the GOP's slate of bills targeting transgender children took a mental health toll on the community: bit.ly/3CN4ykf
NEW: Just weeks after a near-total ban on abortion went into effect in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ceremonially signed a separate bill into law Friday that will restrict Texans’ access to abortion-inducing medication.
2/ The new law narrows the window in which physicians are allowed to give abortion-inducing medication to patients from 10 weeks to seven weeks after conception.
3/ Earlier this month, Texas banned abortions as early as six weeks.
Abortion providers said the near-total abortion ban was the latest, most devastating blow from lawmakers who have been on a warpath to steamroll abortion access for decades. bit.ly/39HECtv
1/ Our journalists are covering redistricting, battles over voting, a near-total abortion ban, the pandemic and more.
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2/ We haven’t stopped covering the torrential downpour of news, and we aren’t going to stop anytime soon.
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1/ Another special legislative session begins in Texas today.
Lawmakers will redraw the state’s political maps and consider new laws, including restricting sports participation for transgender students and distributing COVID-19 relief funds. #TXlegebit.ly/3kpvhgf
2/ The tools for redistricting, or redrawing the state’s political maps, are in Republicans’ hands.
They will aim to entrench their power for the next decade. Here’s how it will work: bit.ly/3nOWVp2
3/ Some of Gov. Greg Abbott’s other priorities:
—Distributing $16 billion in COVID-19 relief
—Restricting transgender students' participation in sports
—Deciding whether state or local governments can mandate COVID-19 vaccines
—Banning tethering dogs outside with heavy chains
2/ The 2021 redistricting cycle will mark the first time in nearly half a century that a Legislature with a lengthy record of discriminating against voters of color will be able to redraw political districts without federal oversight. bit.ly/3lFr07K
3/ In 2013, the Supreme Court scrapped part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that required states with a discriminatory history to have prior approval to enact voting maps or rules.
Texas has not made it through one decade without a ruling that the state disenfranchised voters.
1/ Breaking: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed new voting restrictions into law.
The legislation targets local initiatives meant to make it easier to vote, specifically ones that were disproportionately used by voters of color in 2020. #TXlegebit.ly/3hb42nE
2/ The new law restricts hours for early voting, bans drive-thru voting and implements a new ID requirement for voting by mail.
It also allows partisan poll watchers to have “free movement” and creates new requirements for people helping voters who need assistance.
3/ The law also creates a correction process for mail-in voting and establishes monthly voter registry checks.
NEW: Texas abortion providers made a last-minute plea to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the state’s new abortion restrictions law, which is set to come into effect Wednesday and would ban the procedure as early as six weeks. bit.ly/3zvy50u
The law would also allow members of the general public to sue those who might have violated the restrictions, which abortion providers call a “bounty hunting scheme.” bit.ly/3mLF2ab
The measures in the bill would be among the strictest in the country.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday denied a request to block the bill and canceled a hearing scheduled for Monday where at least 20 abortion providers hoped to testify against the measures.