Texas took a stand against female genital mutilation (FGM) by shoring up its existing ban with a bill that intends to prosecute individuals who transport girls within or out of the state to undergo the procedure.
A Texas State Senator charged with oversight on the embattled Child Protective Services agency said that one of its foster care facilities “was a brothel.”
Members of the Texas Senate Finance Committee were incensed to hear on Wednesday that over 2,800 at-risk children have still not been seen by CPS after citizen reports of abuse or neglect. Senator John Wittmire immediately tapped the Texas Department of Public Safety to address this emergency. Of these 2,800 children, 511 are classified in the “priority one” category.
Time may be running out in the fight to protect children in Texas considered medically fragile. Parents of the state’s most critically ill fear legislation that moves forward on November 1 will result in their children losing access to the specialists and medical treatments they need.
A lawsuit has been filed against another Texas school district for repealing the local option homestead exemption. The Texas Attorney General has intervened in the suit saying, “Local governments cannot be allowed to simply ignore laws that they do not like.”
The State of Texas renewed its commitment to serve veterans where Washington has failed them with a new round of grant opportunities for entities offering mental health care. Another $20 million is available to local nonprofits and governments to address needs “that are currently not being met.”
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, has threaten an orange flood repeat at the Texas Capitol if Planned Parenthood’s cancer screening program is defunded.
