Forced out of state
If there is one thing Kate Cox has proven these last few weeks, it is that Texas' abortion laws have no give.
Even after the Dallas woman went to a judge to get approval to have an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed with a typically fatal disorder, it didn't take long for the government to intervene. First, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a public warning to medical facilities against allowing it, and then the Texas Supreme Court overturned the original judge's order, saying the courts shouldn't be deciding in the first place.
"The law leaves to physicians — not judges — both the discretion and the responsibility to exercise their reasonable medical judgment, given the unique facts and circumstances of each patient," the court's unsigned ruling stated.
As reporter Taylor Goldenstein has noted, Texas has enacted some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country since the fall of Roe v. Wade. It only allows exceptions to save the pregnant person's life or prevent "substantial impairment of a major bodily function."
Cox's lawyers said the mother of two already had been to the emergency room four times in the past month dealing with complications from the pregnancy and should be granted permission to get the procedure done. But in court, the attorney general's office argued Cox shouldn't be allowed to have an abortion because her condition didn't qualify as the risk to her health was not imminent.
The end result of it all?
Cox's lawyers announced she would have to leave the state for the procedure.
Who's up, who's down
Up: George Washington's hair.
A Houston-based company is preparing a sample of the first president's hair to shoot into space. Really. Celestis also is packing hair from Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy onto United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket as part of a time capsule that will travel beyond the moon and preserve history for humans or aliens to rediscover.
Down: TikTok.
A federal judge in Texas upheld the state's TikTok ban on official devices and networks, rejecting a challenge brought by an organization that claimed the restrictions violated the First Amendment. The lawsuit, filed in July by The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, had argued the ban on official devices — which extends to public universities — was impeding academic freedom and compromising the ability of professors to teach and do research about the social media app.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
What else is going on in Texas
 Photo by: Brett Coomer/Staff Photographer | | Grid experts said they are not concerned about the winter as long as weather conditions are normal. | |
 Photo by: Google Maps | | Multiple courts have found the county's new commissioners maps violate the U.S. Voting Rights Act. | |
 Photo by: Juan Figueroa/TNS | | Ken Paxton issued a "consumer alert" advising Texans that email fraudsters are impersonating him to try to steal their personal information. | |
 Photo by: Marie D. De Jesús/Staff Photographer | | The two Republican legislators cited reports of consumer complaints against Sunnova Energy, a Houston-based residential solar company. | |
 Photo by: Brett Coomer, Staff Photographer | | Houston increased Latino representation from one to three members after the November and runoff elections. | |
 Photo by: William Luther/Staff | | A newly created "project financing zone" is expected to generate funding for improvements to the two downtown venues — and possibly other projects. | |
Pick of the day
A proposed presidential debate in Iowa might only have two GOP candidates involved on Jan. 10 — five days before the first primary votes are cast in the nation. Only Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are on pace to qualify for that debate, though Haley has yet to commit to attending. Front runner Donald Trump has consistently avoided all of the debates.
What else I'm reading
With the surge of migrants crossing the border, The El Paso Times reports on the corresponding rise in deaths in the canal systems along the Rio Grande that provide irrigation to farmers. Reporter Lauren Villagran notes the river travels at a speed of one mile per hour in its natural channel but speeds up in the constructed V-shaped concrete canals, which pose the greatest risk to anyone who jumps or falls in the water.
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