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Austin, TX

Texas Supreme Court upholds law outlawing abortion even in so-called ‘hard cases’

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Texas Supreme Court upholds law outlawing abortion even in so-called ‘hard cases’


Another woman, Ashley Brandt, testified that when she was 12 weeks pregnant with twins, one of the babies was diagnosed with acrania, a fatal condition in which the skull fails to fuse. When the baby’s heart stopped, doctors told her, it would likely trigger labor, causing the healthy twin to die, as well. She traveled out of state to abort the stricken baby and gave birth to the healthy one, the court decision states. 

Another woman, Samantha Casiano, lamented having to carry to term her baby girl who was diagnosed 20 weeks into the pregnancy with anencephaly, a condition in which the baby lacks a major portion of the brain and therefore is unable to live more than a short time after birth. The baby died four hours after delivery, the decision says. 

Piecemeal challenges 

Texas outlawed abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, sending abortion law back to legislatures and state referendums. Since then, abortion supporters have tried to chip away at the law. 

Last year, The Center for Reproductive Rights, which supports abortion, filed a lawsuit challenging the law on behalf of several women who experienced severe pregnancy complications, and three doctors. 

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The state’s Human Life Protection Act allows an abortion if doctors using “reasonable medical judgment” determine that a pregnant woman “has a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that places the female at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless the abortion is performed or induced.” 

In August 2023, a Travis County district court judge in Austin, the state capital, issued a short-lived injunction that sought to offer doctors a “good faith judgment” exception. This would allow abortions in cases where a pregnancy complication “poses a risk of infection or otherwise makes continuing a pregnancy unsafe for the pregnant person,” where “a condition exacerbated by pregnancy … cannot be effectively treated during pregnancy,” and where “a fetal condition where the fetus is unlikely to survive the pregnancy and sustain life after birth.” 

The state’s abortion statute does not contain such exceptions. 

During oral arguments in November 2023, a state supreme court justice asked a lawyer from the state attorney general’s office defending the state’s anti-abortion law if the statute’s requirement that doctors use “reasonable medical judgment” to determine if an abortion is necessary doesn’t put doctors in a tough situation. 

The lawyer said no. 

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“They are allowed to use reasonable medical judgment, which is presumably the judgment they use when treating a patient in any given circumstance. And so the option, I guess, facing the legislature — you could either draw a line and allow them to use their reasonable medical judgment, or you can do what the trial court did and essentially eliminate the line so that there really will never be a circumstance in which a woman is unable to obtain an abortion,” said Assistant State Attorney General Beth Klusmann. 

(Story continues below)

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“And so, there are always going to be harder calls at the edge of that line, but the only other option is to eliminate the line entirely,” she said. 

The case, which was decided Friday, May 31, is known as State of Texas v. Zurawski. 

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Austin, TX

Lawsuit: Brianna Aguilera’s parents allege underage alcohol service at Austin tailgate contributed to daughter’s death

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Lawsuit: Brianna Aguilera’s parents allege underage alcohol service at Austin tailgate contributed to daughter’s death


The parents of Brianna Aguilera have filed a lawsuit against two organizations, alleging that they served alcohol to their underage daughter which contributed to her death in Austin.

Before Aguilera fell to her death from the Rio 21 Apartments in West Campus, the lawsuit states that she attended a tailgate at the Austin Blacks Rugby Club’s facility, organized by the UT Latin Economics and Business Association.

Both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association were listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

>> What we know about Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera’s death in Austin

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Even though the lawsuit states Aguilera was “noticeably intoxicated” at the tailgate, her parents argue that the defendants continued to serve her alcohol.

According to court documents, Aguilera allegedly began stumbling at the tailgate and needed help standing at times. At some point, the lawsuit said she fell into the woods and lost her phone.

After leaving the tailgate at approximately 10 p.m., court documents state Aguilera died around two hours later.

The lawsuit also accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence for serving alcohol to Aguilera despite her age and allegedly overserving her.

In the suit, Aguilera’s parents demanded a trial by jury and sought at least $1 million plus interest, costs and punitive damages.

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Aguilera’s parents also seek damages for wrongful death, citing the defendants’ alleged misconduct.

Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who’s representing the Aguilera family, commented on the lawsuit in a Tuesday news conference.

Watch the full news conference below:

“Brianna was obviously overserved,” Buzbee said. “Even the police have concluded that she was overserved at that tailgate. She was not 21.”

Buzbee also stated that the Austin Police Department has allegedly told multiple witnesses not to talk with him and Aguilera’s parents.

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“They told the three, the three individuals that were in that apartment that night when this young girl died. They told them, do not speak to Brianna’s mother or her lawyers,” Buzbee said.

He said that the lawsuit could provide a way for the witnesses to eventually come forward with information.

“By filing this lawsuit, not only will we hold accountable an entity or entities that were involved in overserving Brianna and other minors, but we will also be able to subpoena individuals and documents and video and data so we can continue our investigation,” Buzbee said.

KSAT’s sister station, KPRC, has reached out to both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association for comment on the lawsuit. This story will be updated once the organizations provide a statement.


More coverage of this story on KSAT:

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Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.



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Austin, TX

Cedar pollen eases, but record heat builds across Central Texas

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Cedar pollen eases, but record heat builds across Central Texas


Although record-breaking heat and spring-like warmth dominated the first few days of the new year, cooler — but still warmer than normal —temperatures settled in to start the first work week of 2026.

The heat will ramp up yet again Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures about 20 degrees above the normal early-January high of 62 degrees. 

Expect a blanket of low stratus clouds and some patchy dense fog Tuesday morning, but skies should begin clearing around lunchtime.

“In the meantime, a surface trough (of low atmospheric pressure)/dry line will push from the southern Edwards Plateau into the I-35 corridor, bringing temperatures into the lower to mid-80s,” meteorologists with the National Weather Service wrote in a forecast discussion Monday. “It is going to be very warm for this time of year, and some daily high temperature records could be broken.”

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Those temperatures could rival record highs at both Austin climate observation sites, Camp Mabry and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where the standing record is 84 degrees, set in 1989.

Behind the dry line Tuesday, drier air will move into Central Texas, leading to a slightly cooler start Wednesday under mostly to partly cloudy skies.

Morning temperatures will dip into the 50s around sunrise before climbing into the upper 70s to mid-80s by the afternoon. Those highs would surpass the record of 80 degrees set in 2008 at Camp Mabry.

Temperatures the rest of the week will remain above normal with mostly cloudy mornings but sunny afternoons. 

A cold front is forecast to move across the region later in the week with a slight rain chance Thursday and Friday, but most of the rain will fall north and east of Austin. However, cooler and more seasonable weather is expected this weekend. 

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This past weekend, Austin experienced the highest cedar pollen counts so far this season with a count of 3,200 grains per cubic meter Saturday and a peak of 4,000 grains per cubic meter on Sunday. However, the count dropped to just over 1,000 grams per cubic meter on Monday. Humidity has been on the rise in the past few days, and winds have been much lighter. Those factors have helped “settle” the cedar pollen for the time being. 

Luckily, the winds have turned southerly and are much lighter, so the pollen has settled a bit. A small chance of rain on Thursday and Friday should also help dampen cedar pollen before it becomes airborne. However, above-normal temperatures will allow tree pollen cones to continue opening, setting the stage for another pollen surge when the next breezy cold front arrives.



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Venezuelan oil reboot not expected to spur windfall in Texas

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Venezuelan oil reboot not expected to spur windfall in Texas


With former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of power, President Trump said he wants to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela. 

That idea has raised questions about whether it could cause a price spike at the gas pump and a downturn in the Texas oil patch region. 

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Now, a spike at the pump and a production slump in the Texas oil patch may not happen this year, but with oil prices down, a budget crunch for state lawmakers may be waiting when they return to Austin in 2027.

What they’re saying:

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The situation in Venezuela is creating a lot of political uncertainty, but a Texas energy expert said he is not expecting that uncertainty to cause an oil patch crash or a gas pump pike in 2026.

Prices at the pump are low and despite some recent big swings, up and down, analysts say 2026 could see the lowest prices since the pandemic. That prediction has people like Dale Owens cautiously optimistic.

“Things change so drastically nowadays. I mean, look what’s happening with the government, so anything can affect the price. But right now I’m really happy that it’s stable,” said Owens.

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There are big reasons for that local gas price stabilization, and it predates the leadership change in Venezuela, according to Ed Hirs, an Energy Fellow at the University of Houston.

“The first is that the president has asked MBS (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and OPEC nations to continue pumping a pace. Number one. Number two, this helps hamstring the Russian economy and its war effort. And that’s also one of the goals of not only the European Union, but of the Trump administration. And number three, we’ve got the midterm elections coming up,” said Hirs.

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The price of a barrel of oil is expected to increase slightly because of the uncertainty regarding Venezuela. Texas crude oil production, according to an update released Monday, was stable in December, but state data also showed drilling permits for 2025 were at 369 and that’s down from 459 in 2024.

“When President Trump took office, oil was about $80 a barrel, today it’s under $60 a barrel. We are the high-cost producers in the global commodity oil market, and the cost of drilling these wells has gone up by between 5% and 12%, primarily because of Trump’s steel tariffs. Not only does the imported steel now cost a lot more, but domestic producers raise their So the producers in West Texas and across the Permian Basin are getting squeezed by much lower revenues, $20 a barrel less and much higher cost. It’s not a good capital investment for Wall Street,” said Hirs.

Dig deeper:

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The oil industry remains a big part of the Texas economy and the state budget. State lawmakers will return to Austin in 2027 to crunch numbers for a new two-year budget.

“I think they need to be looking at the budget. So the state comptroller needs to be running the numbers now based on lower oil revenues, not only for state lands, for example, for the universities, but for the state tax receipts. And that applies to the counties and cities that rely on these revenues to keep their budgets balanced. It’s going to be lower for longer,” said Hirs. 

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There are also doubts about whether the Texas refineries will get a financial windfall if the Trump Administration is able to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela. There are about six refineries in Texas and Louisiana that can process the heavy crude that is located in Venezuela.

“Well, it might help keep them open. But Lyondell just closed down a 100-plus-year-old heavy crude refinery on the Houston Ship Channel because it just doesn’t make any sense to reinvest in it. And it was going to require $750, $800 million of new capital investment just to keep the plant operating at par,” said Hirs.

What’s next:

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Stocks for several oil companies did increase on Monday. Chevron, at one point, had a 10% stock price surge, mainly because Chevron is the only U.S. company operating in Venezuela. Other energy-related companies also saw an increase, like Exxon, as well as industry suppliers like Baker-Hughes and Halliburton. 

The action on Wall Street came after President Trump said he wants energy producers to pay for the oil production rebuild. Hirs described the administration’s plans as being “naive.”

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Past attempts to rebuild another country’s oil infrastructure seem to back up the doubts raised by Hirs. In 1989, after the Soviet Union collapsed, companies like Exxon went in to rebuild — only to get kicked out later by the Russians. Hirs also noted the rebuilding effort in Iraq, started by President George W. Bush, hasn’t returned production there to pre-war levels. And it’s the same story for Libya, which was done under President Obama.

The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski and previous coverage

AustinTexas PoliticsDonald J. Trump
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