Texas health

Texas passed the Life of the Mother Act in 2025, aiming to clarify the narrow medical exception to the state's abortion ban. Advocates are still working to spread the word.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission proposed cuts to more than 20 client services programs. Dozens of Texas advocates testified at a legislative budget board hearing Thursday to ask state lawmakers to protect those programs.

The Texas Department of State Health Services is requesting $230 million in additional funding from state lawmakers to support local health departments, maintain critical programs and handle new responsibilities. On Friday, the agency presented its budget request ahead of the 2027 legislative session.

This is the first installment of "Powerless," a series from Public Health Watch examining how rising temperatures and skyrocketing electricity costs are placing Texans in danger.

New federal data shows 92.4% of U.S. kindergarteners received the required measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine during the last school year. That's below the 95% vaccination level generally considered necessary to help prevent outbreaks.

An Alaskan surrogate has traveled to Texas for legal protection after a California couple has refused treatment for a severe heart condition.

Public health officials said some parents are confused about what vaccines are required to attend Texas schools amid efforts to change recommendations.

Clinics with better internet connections are now offering telehealth services to patients who can’t do it from their homes.

Texas aims to contract child welfare services to private providers by 2029 under a system called "community-based care." The abrupt cancelation of its contract with a foster care provider serving eastern North Texas after child deaths has community stakeholders questioning the system's effectiveness.

The ruling says Attorney General Ken Paxton didn't prove his allegations that the Houston-area clinics performed abortions when a lower court's injunction forced them to close.