A private school in Fort Worth is proud of its low vaccination rates — it even put it on a T-shirt. Mercy Culture Preparatory Academy had a measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination rate of 14.29% among kindergartners in the 2023-2024 school year, the lowest in the state, according to Texas Department of State Health Services […]
Category: Health
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Will a Historic Measles Outbreak in Texas Get Conservative Politicians to Promote Vaccines? Of Course Not
A deadly measles outbreak in West Texas has taken one life and reached over 150 cases and counting, spurring many families to seek out vaccinations at clinics that state and local health officials have set up to encourage people to get the shot. The majority of cases where vaccination status has been confirmed are individuals […]
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Measles Is Making a Comeback in Texas, Thanks to Anti-Vaxxers
Guess we’ve gotta learn this lesson for the millionth time: Vaccines stop really bad stuff. Case in point: A measles outbreak in rural West Texas — where vaccine exemptions are sky-high — is spreading fast. It started in late January with two hospitalized kids in Gaines County, CNN reported. By Wednesday, cases hit six. By […]
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Post-Roe Stats Keep Getting Worse: 6 Texas Children Under 12 Got Abortions Out of State in 2023
Last week would have marked the 52nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which guaranteed the federal constitutional right to abortion — until it was overturned in 2022. As data rolls in showing the detrimental effects of abortion bans like the one in Texas, the numbers only get more grim. One […]
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Take Down Your Bird Feeders. Texas Parks & Wildlife Warns Bird Flu Is Highly Contagious.
Texas Parks and Wildlife is urging Texans to stop feeding birds at area parks, take down bird feeders, and remove any bird baths. In case you missed it, bird flu is in Texas and has been since at least December, but this month, officials are raising alarms. Last week there were multiple dead ducks found […]
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The True Cost of Texas’ Abortion Ban: Rising Deaths, Abandoned Babies, Fewer Doctors
What have the country’s most restrictive abortion laws meant for the women and babies living under them? That’s the million-dollar question posed over the last three years by reporters, health care providers, activists, academics, and, of course, the people who’ve had to navigate Texas’ tumultuous reproductive care landscape. Yet, Texas officials, particularly the politicians who […]
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Distracted Driving Is a Major Killer in Texas. Meet the Teens Trying to Stop It.
This story was created as part of a news writing workshop by Youthcast Media Group®, which offers free and paid training in multimedia journalism to diverse high school students from under-resourced communities. Teens are taking to the road every day in Texas as newly-minted drivers and passengers. And safety activists are trying new strategies to […]
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Why Are Texas Lawmakers So Obsessed with Dildos?
Texas is the worst in the nation for quality of life, mental health care access, insurance, and food insecurity — and we’ve seen a 63% increase in gun deaths since Gov. Greg Abbott took office. But it’d be absurd for our elected officials to consider action on those issues, so instead, newly-elected state Rep. Hillary […]
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20-Year-Old Texas Woman Sues Catholic Hospital Over Surprise Sterilization
What was supposed to be a postpartum checkup turned into immeasurable grief for a 20-year-old Texas woman, when she learned that doctors had sterilized her without her knowledge in September 2023. Rachel Richnow is suing Christus St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana, she told The Dallas Morning News, after the hospital removed her fallopian tubes during […]
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Texas OB-GYNs Beg Politicians to ‘Do Something’ After Deaths of Pregnant Women
A group of 111 OB-GYNs in Texas sent a letter to state leaders on Sunday, urging them to change abortion laws that they say are blocking them from delivering lifesaving care to pregnant women. They’re begging lawmakers to re-evaluate policies that hinder the most basic function of their jobs: keeping people alive. “Texas needs a […]