AUSTIN, Texas — Tuesday morning, the Biden Administration ordered emergency room doctors across the country to perform abortions on pregnant women when their life is at risk, despite state laws that might ban the move.

Texas has a total ban on abortion, starting at conception– the only exemption is if the mother’s life is at risk; so this federal directive is already written into state law.

Texas Alliance for Life spokeswoman, Amy O’Donnell said, “We know that there are some organizations who want to put laws in place that prosecute women who seek abortion; Texas Alliance for Life does not support those laws.”

But what about Texas doctors who perform abortions?

In most cases and unless medically necessary, doctors performing abortions in the state could be charged with a felony, and the Texas Medical Board could suspend and/or revoke the doctor’s medical license.

Last month, the Texas Medical Board adopted updated rules for doctors performing emergency abortions, but concerns remain that those guidelines are still unclear.

“Physicians are gonna be tortured by the process and have a difficult time making decisions,” said Steve Bresnen, a pro-choice advocate.

According to the Associated Press, the directive issued by the Department of Health and Human Services said in part, “We have heard story after story describing the experiences of pregnant women presenting to hospital emergency departments with emergency medical conditions and being turned away because medical providers were uncertain about what treatment they were permitted to provide.”

But the new federal order from the Biden Administration could ease Texas doctor’s fear of political prosecution, should they need to perform an emergency abortion.

The letter continued in part, “No pregnant woman or her family should have to even begin to worry that she could be denied the treatment she needs to stabilize her emergency medical condition in the emergency room.”

We reached out to the Texas Medical Board for comment; they declined, but issued a statement that partly reads, “The reality is that the board can only act where it has the authority to provide rules within the confines of the law.”

In Texas, emergency abortions in cases where the mother’s life is at risk, remain legal.

A crowd of fans were crushed during a Pitbul concert at the university sending three people to the hospital with injuries.

Not everyone had the time of their lives seeing Pitbull for free at the University of Texas at Austin on Sunday.

Officials report three people were taken to the hospital following a crowd surge.

Sunday night’s event, celebrating the university’s transition to the Southeastern Conference, attracted thousands to campus.

“I mean, it was phenomenal. I was dozens of people out there just having the best time of their lives,” said Santiago Barrachina.

What started as a fun night took a terrifying turn when Miami’s Pitbull took the stage. With about 50,000 attendees, the situation became too much.

“We were like, on the right before the steps to where it was gated. So we did get to see the pushing and shoving, and that’s when we decided to move out,” said Angelica Garcia.

The incident was reminiscent of a South by Southwest event in 2014 in which Tyler the Creator was accused of inciting a riot. As well as in 2021, at a Travis Scott concert in Houston where 10 people were crushed to death.

“Oh, yeah. I think that was on everyone’s minds. Right,” said Shane Bean. “You know that it’s barricaded. You’re shoulder to shoulder with everyone, but yeah, no, it was a good time, though.”

“Going forward, what would you recommend to the university for the next one,” said a local reporter.

“I guess I mean, it would have been nice if they had more of a plan with that many people showing up, right,” said Bean. “It just seemed like they barricaded the place and let people in, I guess. Yeah, maybe a little bit more forethought about having so many people come in.”

Many students like Alejandra Lugo said the area chosen, the university’s clock tower, for the free concert was too small. An issue that should have been spotted right away.

“I would say to have in a more open area where people can walk freely in and out of the crowd, because that’s a problem that you can get when anyone can be invited to an open area free concert, especially. I think they should also be providing more water around like easily accessible to those more in the middle,” she said.

Pitbull nor the university have yet to publically address what happened at the concert.

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TEXAS — The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down death row inmate Rodney Reed’s most recent petition to review his claims of innocence.

On Nov. 22, 2023, Reed filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, which is a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the case for review. This came after a judge denied Reed a new trial in 2021. The presiding judge, State District Judge J.D. Langley, stated in his ruling that Reed had not proven he is innocent. The Supreme Court denied the writ of certiorari Tuesday.

With this latest development, it is now solely up to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to determine whether Reed will be granted a new trial. 

Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. He was accused of raping and strangling Stites in Bastrop and leaving her by the road.

Reed claimed evidence in the 1998 trial was suppressed by prosecutors that would’ve exonerated him, including that Stites and Reed were having an affair. The death row inmate has long maintained that Stites’ fiance, former police officer Jimmy Fennell, was the actual killer and killed Stites because of the alleged affair.

Lawyers for Reed also said he wanted to DNA test crime-scene evidence he believed would have exonerated him. This includes the belt that was used to strangle the victim. The Supreme Court ruled in April that the DNA testing could still be considered.

Reed remains a death row inmate presently and it is unclear when a date for his execution will be set.