Texas' War on Women Includes Those Transvaginal Ultrasounds
Texas Director of Health and Human Services Tom Suehs signed into law yesterday a state ban on giving Medicaid funds to any doctor or clinic affiliated with organizations that provide abortion (government funds are already barred from directly funding abortion). The law may shut down the state Women’s Health Program, which funds basic health services such as mammograms and Pap smears for over 130,000 low-income Texas women–44 percent of which are provided by Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood responded:
Texas women and Texas taxpayers need this program. The Medicaid Women’s Health Program saves lives, prevents unintended pregnancies and saves taxpayer dollars. For many women, Medicaid WHP is their only source of health care.
The Obama Administration has warned Texas that the decision violates federal law, which states that Medicaid and Medicare cannot exclude qualified providers. But the Texas Health and Human Services Comission argues that states are legally allowed to establish their own provider criteria. If Texas does not budge, the Women’s Health Program will be dissolved when the new law goes into effect on March 14.
Texas was already on the front lines of the nationwide conservative war on women’s health. A sonogram bill–similar to the proposed Virginia law that was withdrawn after outcry last week–was enacted in Texas in 2011. Women seeking abortions in Texas must receive a sonogram and detailed description of the development of the fetus at least 24 hours before the scheduled procedure. Doctors also must offer to play sounds of the fetus’ heartbeat. The need for appointments with the same doctor on two different days has caused massive scheduling problems for Texas clinics.
Like the failed Virginia law, the 2011 Texas bill forces women to receive the medically unnecessary and intrusive “transvaginal ultrasound.” This is because the majority of women get abortions during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, when the fetus is too small to be picked up on in an abdominal ultrasound, so a transvaginal probe must be used. In other words, Texan women in need of abortion services are forced to be vaginally penetrated without a choice of whether to consent. Notably, Texas Penal Code defines sexual assault as “intentionally or knowingly caus[ing] the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person’s consent.”
In sum, Texas last year made abortion as difficult as possible for women and now has cut off 130,000 low-income women from affordable birth control and other health services. The war on women marches on.
Sign here to protest the transvaginal ultrasound law!
States - Texas

On Saturday, as Texas hosted the National Rifle Association’s annual convention, the Texas House passed 12 gun bills to make it even easier to obtain and possess firearms in the state. The onslaught of legislation contains provisions to allow college students to carry handguns in class and to block any theoretical federal bans on assault weapons or high-capacity ammunition. The 12 bills, a veritable goody bag for gun rights advocates, passed easily in the Republican-dominated House. Texas lawmakers introduced about twice as many gun bills this session as last year, generally...
Aviva Shen | ThinkProgress 06 May 2013 Hits:362 Texas
Read more
Texas teachers were up early on the first day of spring break working on their lesson plan. But it wasn't for their students. The educators need to convince budget-conscious lawmakers that last session's cuts in school funding need to be restored. They hope to put a human face on the problem of overworked classroom teachers and how it's affecting our children. Montserrat Garibay with the teachers’ group Education Austin says, "Unfortunately many of these legislators have never been in a classroom so educating them is very important to us...
Fred Cantu | KEYE-TV 13 Mar 2013 Hits:774 Texas
Read more
Texas lawmakers are stepping into a debate about whether Austin should require companies to pay a “living wage” to construction workers to qualify for economic development deals. State Rep. Kenneth Sheets, R-Dallas, said a group of minority contractors told him they would have difficulty paying the $11-an-hour living wage to the laborers they hire, making those contractors less likely to get a piece of the publicly subsidized projects. Sheets filed legislation last month that would bar cities from mandating any wage requirements as part of economic incentive packages, such as the ones...
Tony Plohetski and Marty Toohey | The Statesman 05 Mar 2013 Hits:663 Texas
Read more
Adamantly opposed to expanding Medicaid coverage under President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst had seemingly squelched efforts this legislative session to insure an additional 1.1 million low-income Texans under the Affordable Care Act. But a determined campaign, targeting legislators with public pressure and private persuasion, has kept the issue alive by framing Medicaid expansion as an economic bonanza and tax-relief opportunity that would bring $79 billion in much-needed federal money over 10 years. The arguments, pitched to Republican ears, have carved out a...
Chuck Lindell | American-Statesman 18 Feb 2013 Hits:643 Texas
Read more
The party is launching a full-scale offensive in the Lone Star with the aim of slowly turning the GOP stronghold into a battleground state Democrats, bolstered by President Obama’s victory last fall, have now set their sights on a prize even more valuable than the White House: the state of Texas. The party is launching a full-scale offensive in the Lone Star with the aim of slowly turning the GOP stronghold into a battleground state. According to Politico, a coalition of groups is creating a grassroots...
Laura Gottesdiener | AlterNet 01 Feb 2013 Hits:717 Texas
Read more
This is the kind of story that people look back on after a tragedy and say: Well, that was a bad idea. The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas development, is considering arming its employees. From NPR: In announcing his initiative, [Commission Chair Barry] Smitherman cited “recent shooting tragedies around the country”. In response to questions from StateImpact, he elaborated in an email: “At the Railroad Commission, many of our employees -- such as our field inspectors -- often work alone in remote, desolate areas of...
Philip Bump | Grist.org 30 Jan 2013 Hits:320 Texas
Read more
A bill recently introduced in the Texas state house aims to reward employers who violate Obamacare, offering subsidies to any company that uses religious objection as an excuse for denying its employees copay-free contraception. House Bill 649, introduced by state Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R), was apparently inspired by the controversy over craft chain store Hobby Lobby. That store sued to deny its employees contraception coverage, citing its male president’s religious objections. But since Hobby Lobby, and companies like it, will be forced to pay a fine for violating...
Annie-Rose Strasser | ThinkProgress 29 Jan 2013 Hits:394 Texas
Read more
Registered Nurses, members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas/National Nurses United (NNU) -- the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the country, with 185,000 members -- will rally outside Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center (11049 FM 1940, Houston, corner of Steepletop and FM 1960) on Thursday, January 24 at Noon, to celebrate an important anniversary: five years of collective bargaining -- and the quality patient care those contracts provide --in the state’s private sector hospitals. “What you see in our hospitals is...
26 Jan 2013 Hits:944 Texas
Read more
More than 1,500 Texas nurses won new contracts through their first ever collective bargaining agreement yesterday. They joined National Nurses United, which is the argest union of registered nurses in the country. "Texas took a big step forward in terms of patient care standards with these agreements," said Fred Flores, RN, of Corpus Christi Medical Center’s Emergency Department. The announcement comes only weeks after thousands of Houston janitors went on strike for weeks, demanding that the city raise the minimum wage. The nurses new contracts...
Laura Gottesdiener | AlterNet 07 Sep 2012 Hits:610 Texas
Read more
A federal court on Tuesday agreed with the Department of Justice that redistricted voter maps in Texas did not comply with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and that the effort by the Republican-controlled state legislature was an attempt to deprive or diminish the ability of minorities -- most Latinos -- of their right to an election free of racial discrimination. Three separate maps, for new districts for the US House and the Texas Senate and House, violated the Voting Rights Act, according to the three-judge panel...
Common Dreams Staff 29 Aug 2012 Hits:565 Texas
Read more
A federal appeals court ruled late Tuesday that Texas can cut off funding for Planned Parenthood clinics that provide health services to low-income women before a trial over a new law that bans state money from going to organizations tied to abortion providers. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans lifted a federal judge's temporary injunction that called for the funding to continue pending an October trial on Planned Parenthood's challenge to the law. State officials sought to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood...
Will Weissert | AP 23 Aug 2012 Hits:482 Texas
Read more
Last week, more than 3,200 janitors in Houston called an end to their five-week strike. The cleaning contractors initially offered a total wage increase of $.50 an hour phased in over five years—so in 2016 the janitors would earn $8.85 an hour. The janitors asked for a raise to $10 an hour over three years. In the end, the janitors accepted $9.35 an hour over four years, a 12 percent increase over their current pay. They also fought off an effort by the contractors that would have allowed...
Greg Kaufman | The Nation 17 Aug 2012 Hits:546 Texas
Read more
Score another victory for the Tea Party. One-time long-shot candidate Ted Cruz completed his once nearly unthinkable upset Tuesday, winning the runoff for the Republican Senate nomination in Texas over David Dewhurst, the state's lieutenant governor who had the backing of Rick Perry and a vast personal fortune behind his bid. Cruz's win makes him the overwhelming favorite to win this November's general election for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who will retire at the end of this term. The Tea Party-favorite will now face off...
Josh Voorhees | Slate.com 01 Aug 2012 Hits:464 Texas
Read more
Are you willing to pay more taxes and higher health insurance premiums so Gov. Rick Perry and other Republicans can try to score points against President Obama? Never mind. No need to ask. You don't have a choice. Perry already decided you will pay more. He's refusing to participate in Medicaid expansion completely paid for by the federal government. His decision means local taxpayers are going to get stuck with another big tab. When health care services are offered to a person who can't afford to...
Glen W. Smith | Chron.com 11 Jul 2012 Hits:732 Texas
Read more
Early this month, Texas Republican delegates met in Fort Worth to approve their 2012 platform, notable parts of which take aim at the state's education system. In the section titled "Educating Our Children," the document states that "corporal punishment is effective" and recommends teachers be given "more authority" to deal with disciplinary problems. Additionally, the document states the party opposes mandatory pre-school and kindergarten, saying parents are "best suited to train their children in their early development." The position causing the most controversy, however, is the statement that...
Laura Hibbard | Huffington Post 30 Jun 2012 Hits:718 Texas
Read moreTexas climate justice activists are prepared to use nonviolent, direct action to block the Keystone XL pipeline's construction. The deadline for the review of TransCanada's permits for the Gulf Coast portion…
Janitors call on all low wage workers to “Take Back Millionaire City” Houston janitors who clean the offices of some of the world’s wealthiest companies unanimously voted today to give…
The nation's lowest paid janitors take a stand for their dignity and their families in Houston. In Houston, more than 3,200 janitors clean the offices of some of the largest…
Former El Paso city councilman Beto O'Rourke has defeated US Rep. Silvestre Reyes in the battle for the Democratic Party nomination for the seat Reyes has held since 1996.…
Texas textbook war: 'Slavery' or 'Atlantic triangular trade'? Changes to social studies textbooks in Texas proposed by conservatives have resulted in a partisan uproar and generated interest far beyond…
Who says the age of American innovation is over? There’s a new entrant in the burgeoning concealed-weapon fashion industry. American Tactical Apparel, out of Houston, Texas, makes clothing for “professional door kickers,…
On Monday afternoon an Austin-based federal judge told the Texas Health and Human Services department that it couldn’t exclude Planned Parenthood from the state’s Women’s Health Program (WHP).…
Planned Parenthood is suing Texas' Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) arguing that the state's rule unconstitutionally banned its clinics from Medicaid's Women's Health Program (WHP). Planned …
When clients come to the Downtown Planned Parenthood Clinic in Austin, Texas to see clinical nurse Suzy Campbell, they're coming to get what they've always gotten from the…
Facebook same-sex marriage campaigns have gone on before, but a new one is causing quite a bit of buzz. On Tuesday (March 26) the Facebook page for the Human Rights Campaign started advertising the use of a new avatar for & Continue reading...
Patrick T. Fallon/Staff Photographer Police officers descended upon the Occupy Dallas campsite across from City Hall in 2011 with orders for protesters to move. City Hall would be listed as a place where camping is prohibited under a police...
Crossposted with permission Matthew Thunney: Seattle Examiner: A Seattle teacher revolt against standardized tests has finally achieved national attention. The Seattle teachers revolt has actually been going on for a while now, but reached...
Matthew Thuney ,Seattle Liberal ExaminerFebruary 19, 2013 So now the Seattle metropolitan area, teeming with ardent liberals while limping along with a vocal minority of mostly fair-weather sports fans, boasts three competing sports talk radio...
This from the desk of my good friend and colleague, Matthew Thuney. Thanks! Dear Santa: help us end gun violence gun violence December 24, 2012 By: Matthew Thuney Subscribe Mourning during a season of rejoicing. How long must we live & Continue...
Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report. HOOKSETT, N.H. (AP) Fear and frustration course through the lunch crowd at Robies Country Store and Deli, a popular outpost 500 miles...
| Mon May 27, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM PDA ERA 3 State Strategy Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 787085# |
| Tue May 28, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Clean, Fair, Transparent Elections IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 314363# |
| Wed Jun 05, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Economic and Social Justice Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 781761# |
| Mon Jun 10, 2013 @ 8:30PM - 09:30PM End Mass Criminalizations IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 331473# |
| Tue Jun 11, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM End Wars and Occupations Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 952870# |
| Tue Jun 18, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Healthcare for All Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 733525# |
| Wed Jun 19, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Stop Global Warming Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 661274# |
| Mon Jun 24, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM PDA ERA 3 State Strategy Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 787085# |
| Tue Jun 25, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Clean, Fair, Transparent Elections IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 314363# |
| Wed Jun 26, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM End Corporate Rule IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 754227# |
PDA is organized around several core issues. These issues include:
Each team hosts a monthly conference call. Calls feature legislators, staffers and other policy experts. On these calls we determine PDA legislation to support as well as actions and future events.
For support in organizing within your state, contact:
![]() |
|||
| Robbie Byrd |
State Leadership
Robbie Byrd
Email us at: texas@pdamerica.org
Chapters
El Paso
Planned Chapters
Austin
Brownsville
Dallas
Houston
San Antonio
Want to bring progressive change to Texas? Start a PDA chapter; send us an email and we'll get you started.
Legislators Who Have Cut Ties With ALEC