Abortion Drugs & PracticesCarmello Brooks, a University of Houston football player in Texas, was arrested for allegedly assaulting his pregnant girlfriend after she refused to take the abortion pill. The University of Houston Athletics is investigating the matter, highlighting a Texas-based incident involving allegations of violence against pregnant women.
Read →Human Dignity, Disability & BioethicsSupreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied surrogate McKenna West's emergency appeal to overturn a California court ruling that she has no legal or physical claim to the medically fragile baby boy she carried, who was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Despite West's efforts to secure custody and ensure the baby received life-saving care in Texas, the baby's genetic parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, retain legal rights and are currently suing West for damages, while courts have ordered that the baby must receive stabilizing and life-sustaining care.
Read →Human Dignity, Disability & BioethicsA Texas District Court vacated an emergency order that had kept Baby Gabriel/Rumi, born via surrogate McKenna West, in Texas to receive care for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, allowing his genetic parents to move him to California if approved by doctors. The court found that the genetic parents have consented to all recommended medical treatments and that some restrictions of the emergency order were no longer medically necessary, while maintaining that stabilizing and life-sustaining care must continue and that the Guardian Ad Litem remains appointed for the child.
Read →Pregnancy Centers & Practical HelpThe Texas Supreme Court has allowed Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit against Yelp to proceed, challenging the company's use of labels on pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) that Paxton alleges are misleading because they were applied uniformly to all PRCs regardless of whether they have licensed medical professionals onsite. Yelp had initially placed labels stating that PRCs typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals, but changed the label after the lawsuit to say PRCs do not offer abortions or referrals, and the legal dispute continues after lower courts reinstated Paxton's suit despite Yelp's attempts to dismiss it.
Read →Abortion Policy, Law & PoliticsOn September 14, the Snyder, Texas City Council unanimously advanced an ordinance declaring the city a Sanctuary City for the Unborn, which prohibits elective abortions and abortion trafficking within the city and extends enforcement from detectable heartbeat to fertilization. A similar ordinance was considered and tabled by the Jayton City Council, and both ordinances align with a measure previously adopted by Scurry County, featuring private enforcement mechanisms targeting abortion providers and traffickers but not penalizing women seeking abortions.
Read →Abortion Policy, Law & PoliticsThe family of Tierra Walker filed a lawsuit against Texas officials and medical professionals, alleging that the state's pro-life law prevented doctors from performing an abortion that they claim was the only stabilizing treatment for her preeclampsia and other health conditions. Medical experts and reports indicate that the standard of care for severe preeclampsia is early delivery to save the mother and baby, not an induced abortion, and Walker's death was likely due to subpar medical care rather than the abortion law itself.
Read →Abortion Drugs & PracticesFlanders reports another pause in a lawsuit brought by Texas and Florida challenging mifepristone's federal approval. She explains that proceedings are expected to resume after the FDA's review or the stated December deadline and notes a denied dismissal motion.
Read →