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Court backs Texas birth control restrictions
A Texas father can deny his daughters from having access to contraception, a federal court ruled this week.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed that a state parental rights law trumps a federal program that allows some clinics to forgo getting that approval.
As reporter Taylor Goldenstein points out, it marks the first major decision on birth control access since federal protections for abortion were overturned almost two years ago.
Texas minors are required by state law to have parental consent before accessing contraception; however, the case decided Tuesday pertains to federal Title X clinics, which are meant to provide affordable family planning services. The rules of the program, in place since the 1970s, require that the clinics serve all adolescents and encourage family participation "to the extent practical."
The court ruled that if Title X were to take precedence over a state law, it would be an "invasion" of the father's "state-created right" to consent to his child's medical care. The decision affirmed a lower court ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk that since December 2022 has blocked Texas minors from seeking contraception at federal clinics without parental approval.
More on the case and its likelihood of going to the U.S. Supreme Court here.
Who's up, who's down
Up: Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Not often you'll see both of these guys sharing the Up of the day, but last night they clinched the nominations of their respective parties setting up the November general election showdown.
Down: Rand Paul.
The New York Times reported that independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. has included the U.S. Senator from Kentucky on a shortlist of running mates that includes NFL football star Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura. But Paul, who grew up near Lake Jackson and attended Baylor, doesn't sound like he'll be joining the ticket. He told Politico: "I think he's saying a lot of good things. But I have no plans to get involved in the campaign."
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
What else is going on in Texas
 Photo by: Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer |
Houston's Johnson Space Center is home to astronaut training and is leading the development of the Orion spacecraft that will fly astronauts to the moon's orbit. |
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 Photo by: Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press |
The San Antonio Democrat pressed the heads of the CIA and FBI to "correct the historical record" during a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing. |
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 Photo by: Andrew Harnik, AP |
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have officially secured the requisite numbers of delegates to be considered their parties' presumptive nominees. |
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 Photo by: Efrem Lukatsky, AP |
House Democrats as well as a small group of centrist Republicans are launching separate long-shot efforts to force a vote on tens of billions of dollars in wartime aid for Ukraine. |
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 Photo by: Kirk Sides, Staff Photographer |
Houston City Council members are spending tens of thousands of dollars to fund illegal dumping cleanup teams in their districts. |
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 Photo by: David Zalubowski, Associated Press |
MDMA and psychedelics could revolutionize health care for PTSD, anxiety and addiction. |
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Pick of the day
Photo by: Jeremy Wallace
That was the vote the U.S. House had to ban TikTok from app stores in the United States unless the Chinese company that owns the popular social media platform sells its stake. Members of Congress say because the company is based in China, the communist government there can get access to U.S. user data for espionage.
What else I'm reading
The hard-right House Freedom Caucus is expelling U.S. Rep. Randy Weber of Friendswood from their ranks. The Texas Tribune reported that Weber had been skipping the group's meetings and questioned some "burn the house down" tactics of late. "It was a shock because I've disagreed with some of the Freedom Caucus chairs … but I've never had them tell me you need to get out of the Freedom Caucus," Weber said.
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