Roe v. Wade

Prescribing medical abortions across state lines is now risky for doctors. "We're talking about something that's a protected right in one state and a felony in a sister state," says one legal scholar.

Abortion rights advocates and legal experts say it's the final step in making access to abortion in the state impossible — except under the rarest of circumstances. It also marks a significant victory for the anti-abortion movement and Texas Republican lawmakers.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton brought the lawsuit in July after the White House said doctors who perform abortions in emergency situations should not be prosecuted in states with bans on the procedure.

The suit came two days before the state’s newest abortion ban, triggered by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, goes into effect.

Nationally, Black people giving birth are three times more likely to die than their white counterparts, and twice as likely in Texas. That concerns reproductive justice advocates, who fear these outcomes will worsen now that Roe v. Wade is overturned, and people can’t access abortion services.

A Supreme Court ruling overturned Roe v. Wade. Now there's a big push to increase funding for Title X, a federal program that offers birth control and other reproductive care to low-income patients.

Following the Supreme Court's decision, Carlie Brown and Molly Pela rescheduled their wedding for nine months earlier. They fear that without federal protections, their family remains vulnerable.

New, untested abortion bans have made doctors unsure about treating some pregnancy complications. That's led to life-threatening delays, and trapped families in a limbo of grief and helplessness.

Wary of political fallout, GOP leaders didn't direct members to hold the party line against the bill and dozens of Republicans joined Democrats in passing it. But it will likely stall in the Senate.

A new survey from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs also found that more than three in four respondents, or 77%, favored an abortion policy that was less severe than the state law.