Black women working to end Texas’ high maternal mortality/morbidity rate
April 11-17th marks the week spotlighting Black Maternal Health in a time where Black pregnant people nationwide are still disproportionately dying in childbirth and postpartum at three times the rate of other races. The numbers are even scarier for Texas, with...
Frontera Fund promises statewide effort against criminalization of pregnancy outcomes
Frontera Fund, an abortion fund that helped free Lizelle Herrera in Starr County, held a press conference on Wednesday promising a statewide effort and potential legal action against authorities that criminalize the outcome of a pregnancy. Herrera, 26, was arrested...
Can Big Tech be reined in without hurting cybersecurity or innovation?
If there’s one thing the right and the left can agree on it’s their dislike of Big Tech. Their grievances are often different; conservatives are concerned with censorship and liberals are concerned with disinformation while both worry about the lack of competition. If...
What the arrest in Starr County means for abortion access in the RGV
The Signal recently spoke with Nancy Cardenas Pena, Texas state director for policy and advocacy for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, one of the three abortion justice groups that helped free Lizelle Herrera in Starr County. Herrera, 26,...
“If its white, its right” RAICES speaks on Title 42 hypocrisy
By May 23, the Biden Administration is said to scrap Title 42, a controversial Trump-era policy that expels asylum seekers in the United States based on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For context, on March 11, the same day President Biden announced an end to Title 42,...
Why Was A Woman In Texas Arrested For An Abortion?
As news spread over the arrest of 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera in Starr County, there was immediate outrage and action over somebody being detained for an alleged self-induced abortion. Now that the District Attorney of Starr County filed a motion to drop those...
Texas environmentalists talk latest troubles and strategies
This week, activists and allies with the Texas Campaign for the Environment held their annual meeting, updating members on strategy and the ongoing work of climate crisis organizers. TEC Executive Director Robin Schneider spoke about the renewed push for crude oil,...
The expanded child tax credit helped millions of Texans before the plug was pulled
In January, the expanded child tax credit expired, ending monthly payments to parents across the nation. The direct payments began as part of the American Rescue Plan in July 2021. They expanded the existing child tax credit of $2,000 per child in 2020 to up to...
Alexandra Guio on her runoff race in HD-114
Attorney Alexandra Guio said she experienced her American Dream in 2013 after officially becoming a United States citizen, passing the Texas bar exam, and earning a job in the Dallas County District Attorney’s office. After finishing college at the University of...
A Conversation About the New Reality of Abortion Care
After the Oklahoma legislature passed a near-total abortion ban on Tuesday, the Signal spoke with Emily Wales, the Interim President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. After Senate Bill 8 was signed by Greg Abbott in September, Oklahoma absorbed the largest...
Oklahoma Legislature Passes Sweeping Abortion Ban
As thousands rallied in Oklahoma against a Texas-style abortion ban, news reached the protestors that another anti-abortion bill, one that entirely bans abortion in the state, passed the Oklahoma legislature. The bill will not only have a devastating impact on...
Standout moments from the Texas Democratic Party Chair Debate
On Saturday at the Texas College Democrats Convention, tensions escalated quickly in the Texas Democratic Party Chair debate after incumbent Gilberto Hinojosa, candidate Ret. Colonel Kim Olson, and candidate Texas Southern University professor Carroll G. Robinson...
The anti-LGBTQ bill Dan Patrick wants to import from Florida
In a campaign email to supporters this week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick promised to recreate Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill during the next Texas legislative session. “I will make this law a top priority in the next session,” Patrick said of the 88th regular session, set to...
“A better Texas is possible” Texas College Democratic Convention rallies around saving democracy
Over 300 Texas college students from all over the state rallied around Democratic elected officials and candidates with the central message “A better Texas is possible” at the 2022 Texas College Democratic Convention on Saturday, April 2 at the University of Houston...
In Houston, Beto focuses on Abbott’s CPS trafficking scandal
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke visited Houston on Saturday for a town hall in Spring Branch. Speaking to attendees at the Lazy Oaks Beer Garden, O’Rourke talked about his desire to raise teacher pay, connect the Texas electrical grid to the rest of...