Truthout
Texas
![Greg Abbott speaks at a podium](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0904-greg-abbott-400x300.jpg)
Watchdogs Worry That New Texas Courts Were Created to Side With Industry
The state's oil and gas industry lobbied aggressively for Texas's Business Court Judicial District.
![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole on July 11, 2021, in Dallas, Texas.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0904-ken-paxton-400x300.jpg)
Texas AG Ken Paxton Sues County Over Its Efforts to Register More Voters
Paxton's lawsuit makes the baseless claim that the county's actions would encourage noncitizens to vote.
![](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-1253246414-400x300.jpg)
Republican States Are Blocking Legal Gender Changes on Driver’s Licenses
Anti-trans regulations are spreading, with a Texas directive even claiming the state will ignore court orders.
![Right-wing activist Leonard Leo (center) attends the 2023 Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner that is part of the Federalist Society's 2023 National Lawyers Convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel on November 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-2011427763-400x300.jpg)
Leonard Leo’s Effort to Gut Planned Parenthood Threatens Myriad Health Services
A lawsuit in Texas has a web of ties to Leo and builds on a years-long campaign by anti-abortion activists.
![A group of doctors join abortion rights supporters at a rally outside the Supreme Court on April 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/08/2024_0812-abortion-p-400x300.jpg)
Despite Fed Rule, More Than 100 Pregnant People Denied Care by Hospitals and ERs
Doctors fear state laws could land them in prison because of vague language around life-saving exceptions to abortion.
![A teacher holds up a sign reading "TAKEOVERS DON'T WORK; (ask any Providence teacher)" during an outdoor protest](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/08/2024_0807_school-takeover-400x300.jpg)
State Takeover of 8th-Largest Public School System Exemplifies Alarming Trend
Takeovers in education extend beyond Houston, Texas, and hurt low-income learners and students of color most.
![An aerial view of the Whinstone U.S. Bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, on October 9, 2021.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1235926785-3-400x300.jpg)
Crypto Mining Is Creating an Environmental Crisis for Black Texas Communities
Energy companies plan to build new fossil fuel plants in communities of color to meet the demands of crypto mining.
![Rep Sylvia Garcia holds a sign reading "REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM NOW" while speaking quietly to Teresa Leger Fernandez, standing beside her](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/07/2024_0710-texas-abortion-400x300.jpg)
TX Officials Don’t Know How Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers Spend Tax Dollars
But that hasn’t stopped the cash from flowing, as Texas leads the nation in funding for “crisis pregnancy centers.”
![Student protest against Katy ISD's transgender policy outside the school districts educational support complex on August 30, 2023 in Katy, Texas.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/06/2024_0629-Trans-Rights-texas-400x300.jpg)
Texas Supreme Court Says Parental Rights Don’t Extend to Gender-Affirming Care
The court ruled that parents only have the right to seek medical care for their children that is “legally available.”
![Demonstrators supporting abortion rights march down a street on June 24, 2022, in Austin, Texas.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/06/2024_0624-abortion-texas-400x300.jpg)
Infant Mortality Rose 13 Percent in Texas After Abortion Ban, Study Finds
Deaths of babies under 28 days old increased by over 10 percent between 2021 and 2022.