Author Archive, Mary Tuma

Citing “important precedent” neglected by state officials, three judge panel temporarily reinstates Planned Parenthood in WHP

By | 05.08.12 | 8:55 am

After a tumultuous week for the fate of reproductive care in Texas, Planned Parenthood will remain in the Women’s Health Program (WHP)– at least for now.
Just hours after an initial federal court ruling More… last Monday that deemed Texas’ controversial decision to block the centers from the WHP unconstitutional, a

Judge with history of disparaging women stays state appeal to exclude Planned Parenthood from WHP

By | 05.01.12 | 6:28 pm

A court ruling issued yesterday that would have stopped Texas from implementing a ban on Planned Parenthood providers in the Women’s Health Program (WHP) is now obsolete. The state quickly appealed the ruling just hours after it was announced and received a stay on the preliminary injunction the same day, More…

Hours after federal judge blocks Texas’ Planned Parenthood ban, state files appeal

By | 05.01.12 | 10:36 am

Just hours after a federal judge ruled against Texas’ controversial decision to bar Planned Parenthood clinics from the vital Medicaid-based Women’s Health Program (WHP), Texas officials were quick to call for an appeal of the temporary injunction, adding another hurdle in the ongoing tug of war over basic reproductive health More…

Amid state funding plan, doubt over displaced WHP client care remains

By | 04.24.12 | 11:14 am

In the ongoing volley between state health officials and the federal government over funding the Women’s Health Program (WHP), Texas laid out its plans last week to wholly take over the Medicaid program by November. Unwilling to allow abortion affiliates into the WHP, Texas lost out on 90 percent of More…

Proposed abortion reporting rule meant to ‘intimidate’ physicians, say critics

By | 04.18.12 | 10:22 am

A proposed requirement by the state’s health services department would force doctors to collect detailed information about Texas women who seek abortions. Initially drawn up by Republican Rep. Bill Zedler during the 82nd More… legislative session, the new requirements would expand the scope of what a doctor must report to

Planned Parenthood affiliates file federal suit against Texas over WHP exclusion

By | 04.11.12 | 5:10 pm

After banishing Planned Parenthood centers from inclusion in the Women’s Health Program (WHP) because of their status as abortion providers, the state now faces a federal lawsuit from the reproductive health center affiliates in Texas.
Filed in an Austin district court Wednesday morning, the suit challenges the state’s decision as More…

House Democrats rebuke Women’s Health Program funding plan

By | 04.05.12 | 4:38 pm

In an effort to restore the crippled Women’s Health Program, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission recently announced plans to use federal block grant funds to subsidize the program, granting a clearer picture of how the state will make up for the federal dollars lost due to a controversial More…

Houston tea party group The King Street Patriots ruled political action committee– not a non-profit

By | 03.30.12 | 12:48 pm

Houston-based tea party group, The King Street Patriots, are operating illegally by working under the guise of a nonpartisan, non-profit while overtly promoting Republican candidates, an Austin judge ruled this week. The ruling upholds Texas campaign finance law, rebukes KSP’s aim to remove bans on direct corporate giving to candidates More…

Questions surround state’s promise to restore Women’s Health Program funding

By | 03.28.12 | 3:53 pm

With federal funding choked off, state health officials and Gov. Rick Perry pledge that a Medicaid based program directed at low-income women will live on­ without federal dollars– but the details on how and what else might be at stake as a result More…aren’t yet clear.
A rule blocking Planned Parenthood

While Perry blames Obama for WHP demise, similar rule blocked by Bush

By | 03.21.12 | 1:35 pm

While state officials blame the Obama administration’s “pro-abortion agenda” for ending a Medicaid program More… that provided basic reproductive care to more than 130,000 low-income women, a similar attempt by the state to restrict provider choice failed under the Bush administration, records obtained by the Texas Independent show.
With heated rhetoric,

Grassroots Internet-based PAC targets Rep. Lamar Smith

By | 03.16.12 | 7:19 am

For U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, online piracy has given birth to online warfare. His sponsorship of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA–ultimately failed legislation More… that vocal critics saw as a form of Web censorship– has led to an Internet-based campaign to unseat him.
First established by a community

Rule excluding Planned Parenthood from Medicaid program takes effect today

By | 03.14.12 | 8:42 am

Delia Henry gave up her job so she could focus on helping others stay healthy. But by setting aside work to attend nursing school, the 31-year-old Austin Community College student no longer had access to health insurance. Plagued by intense migraines and dizziness, Henry was told by a primary care More…

‘Don’t Mess With Texas Women’ tour aims to raise awareness about attacks on reproductive services

By | 03.07.12 | 9:06 am

A billboard disguised as a campaign bus rolled up to a cheering crowd of activists on Guadalupe Street in Austin, Texas. In lieu of a political candidate’s face or a large-type Constitution, the roving vehicle was outfitted in a much less glamorous but more to the point design–a list of More…

In anti-Obama editorial about women’s health cuts, Perry leaves out key points

By | 03.06.12 | 10:33 am

In a scathing editorial that blames the Obama administration for the state’s upcoming expected loss of a potentially life-saving federal health care program, Gov. Rick Perry leaves out a few key points amid his condemnation.
Posted just a few days after the Texas Health and Human Services Commission signed a More…

Cornyn, Hutchison vote for contraceptive exemption bill

By | 03.01.12 | 5:19 pm

While a Republican Senate bill More… seeking to overturn the Obama administration’s contraception health care policy rule was eventually tabled Thursday morning, a fight over religious freedom and women’s health proceeded, with two Texas Senators defending the measure.
Texas Republican Senators and bill co-sponsors, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, voted

West Texas Planned Parenthood center to close as a result of Women’s Health Program cuts

By | 02.29.12 | 1:18 pm

By next week, more than 2,500 low-income women living in Odessa will be forced to go elsewhere for basic reproductive and family planning care. The West Texas Planned Parenthood center’s upcoming closure marks the first of likely many casualties as a result of the soon to be cut Medicaid-based Women’s More…