Texas Observer

“The whole system is premised on commodifying human beings.” From Sandy West in our magazine: In the aftermath of Roe v. Wade, adoptions are on the rise in Texas. But some private foster care and adoption agencies may have crossed serious ethical lines. texasobserver.org/private-adopti…

New today: We Texans keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We are not going to change this narrative until we change our view of climate change and of living and developing in the floodplain. texasobserver.org/flooding-houst…

Featured story: Extreme flooding events are nothing new to Texas. Neither are droughts. And the first does tend to follow the second here. In the parts of the Hill Country known as “Flash Flood Alley,” the changing climate can lead to deadly scenarios. texasobserver.org/hill-country-f…

Yesterday: I've had it with hearing the same story over and over again—another 100-year-plus rainfall event, another tragic result from people occupying the floodplain without an adequate warning system. More pain. More loss. texasobserver.org/flooding-houst…

Out today: What this tells me is that our Texas rivers, bayous, creeks, and streams are more flood-prone today than ever. More importantly, we don’t treat floodplains with the respect they deserve and demand. texasobserver.org/flooding-houst…

There are reports that Republicans will try to redraw as many as five currently Democratic districts—from South Texas and Houston to Dallas and possibly Austin—to favor the GOP to flip in the upcoming midterms. texasobserver.org/redistricting-…

In our magazine: “The whole system is premised on commodifying human beings, regardless of whether or not it’s a for-profit or a nonprofit agency. And anytime you’re talking about people as a commodity, I don’t know what that looks like to do ethically.” texasobserver.org/private-adopti…

New from @MichellePitcher: Jorge Renaud, became a social justice advocate after spending years incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system. In his new poetry collection, out now from Plancha Press, he trades in his megaphone for a pen. texasobserver.org/formerly-incar…

From Shelby Tauber in 2024: All these women I met and photographed wanted to be mothers. These women are among the millions in Texas who now have substantially less authority over their bodies. Our bodies. texasobserver.org/their-laws-our…

Previously: Americans United called it “a flagrant, self-serving attack on church-state separation that threatens our democracy by favoring houses of worship over other nonprofits and inserting them into partisan politics.” texasobserver.org/trump-irs-texa…

"We forget what we don’t want to remember. While I understand that impulse, there are dangers embedded in our forgetfulness. This is especially true for anyone living in Flash Flood Alley." texasobserver.org/san-antonio-hi…

Our top story: Private foster care and adoption agencies in Texas are brokering contracts for moms to turn over their children in a murky legal world, spawning protracted civil custody battles. texasobserver.org/private-adopti…

New from @by_jmiller: "If you actually redraw the districts that are named in the letter, that’s just buying like a Texas-sized legal fight. You’re just inviting the argument that you’re intentionally discriminating against communities of color." texasobserver.org/redistricting-…

Earlier: “We as a legislature actually created a way for people ... to challenge convictions based on science that later turns out to be wrong. The courts simply aren’t engaging in that process. So convictions are being allowed to stand on junk science.” texasobserver.org/robert-roberso…

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department noted that the company had done insufficient work to determine the impact on “important rare or protected species and their associated habitats” along the more than 100-mile route proposal. texasobserver.org/locals-oppose-…

From @josephineklee in 2023: This tiny crossroads community was founded as a socialist utopia. It used to be called Bettina, after a German author and activist who championed the oppressed underclasses. texasobserver.org/castell-hill-c…

The latest from Texas Observer cartoonist Ben Sargent. See more from Loon Star State: texasobserver.org/topics/loon-st…

Our top story: “It’s because we have a society, we have a culture that has very elitist, eugenic views on parenthood. We have the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots.’ It’s like: ‘Maybe they weren’t treated fairly, but at least that child is now in the haves.” texasobserver.org/private-adopti…

People did not die solely because of forgetfulness but because this amnesia allowed succeeding generations to erase the past and their responsibilities to the future. texasobserver.org/san-antonio-hi…

The new IRS proposal doesn’t fulfill the Christian right’s desire to completely eliminate the Johnson Amendment, but it will surely disrupt an important social compact in ways that may remake the religious and political landscape. texasobserver.org/trump-irs-texa…

New today: Attorneys and child welfare advocates told the Texas Observer that many women in vulnerable situations are at risk of losing their children to a privately run shadow foster and adoption system operating with little oversight or regulation. texasobserver.org/private-adopti…