Texas

Kate Cox, abortion in Texas and religious freedom

Published

2 years ago

January 8, 2024

Kate Cox, abortion in Texas and religious freedom

It’s a tragedy when a pregnant person learns their own health and pregnancy are at risk, especially when it’s apparent the baby will die hours after birth. Being in this position is a terrifying and lonely place to be.

Unfortunately, that’s where Kate Cox found herself recently when she sought a medically necessary abortion. Then it took an unimaginable turn when she learned, like the rest of us, that the Texas Supreme Court was more than willing to make matters worse. In states with abortion bans like ours, even those with medical exceptions, the last person who gets to decide is the first person impacted by this diagnosis: the pregnant person.

Even after being granted immunity from prosecution on medical grounds by a district court, Cox was ultimately blocked from terminating her ill-fated pregnancy and forced to leave the state so she could receive the pregnancy care she needed. This is no longer unusual in Texas, as many women now face this agonizing choice.

Current Texas law prohibits abortion except to save the life of the pregnant patient. Both Cox’s doctor and the district judge believed her case fit the criteria of Texas’ already restrictive abortion law. Molly Duane, one of Cox’s attorneys, said that Cox is at “high risk for multiple pregnancy complications, including hypertension, gestational diabetes, and infection.” If she didn’t have an abortion, Cox would have been unable to have another healthy pregnancy, which would devastate her and her family’s dream to have a larger family.

As Jewish women, we know this is wrong. But in Texas, we face double discrimination with anti-abortion laws that deny both our bodily autonomy and freedom to practice our religious beliefs. This is why my organization, National Council of Jewish Women of Greater Dallas, and our sister organizations in Austin, San Antonio and Houston, fully support Cox’s right — and the right of any pregnant person — to decide whether to continue a pregnancy.

In Jewish tradition, we are taught to value a pregnant person’s life and health above other considerations. Our Jewish teachings also uphold that abortion is not only permitted but required when the life of the pregnant person is at risk. We acknowledge there is diversity of thought and interpretation across the Jewish denominations, yet the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative Jewish movements all believe health care includes abortion care.

Jewish women are not alone in this experience. The denial of medically necessary abortion care under Texas law also impinges on the religious beliefs of others. In solidarity, NCJW initiated a coalition of diverse religious traditions and submitted an amicus brief in the case Zurawski vs. State of Texas that seeks clarification on the medical emergency exception under current law. All who signed on hold a faith-informed belief that a pregnant person has the moral right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy that threatens their life or health.

Despite the distress she has suffered during her pregnancy, and the Texas law that takes away her individual agency, Cox is fortunate. She left Texas to have her medically necessary abortion because she has the means and support to travel. Many do not. As people of faith, we must emphasize the moral urgency of abortion access for all, including people in marginalized communities who are disproportionately impacted by this unjust Texas law that currently denies medically necessary abortion care.

Denying an abortion under Texas law despite health and religious beliefs goes against both the U.S. and Texas constitutions. The latter says: “Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin.”

Although our Jewish faith supports abortion rights, the imperative lies in ensuring universal access to safe abortions. It is a fundamental right that transcends religious doctrines and calls on us to forge alliances across religious divides, uniting in the pursuit of comprehensive bodily autonomy for all individuals, irrespective of faith.

Shannon Morse is the executive director of the National Council of Jewish Women-Greater Dallas. The NCJW in Austin, Houston and San Antonio co-signed this essay.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

Source link

Texas

SMU secures commitment from Texas A&M transfer TE Theo Melin Öhrström

Published

9 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

SMU secures commitment from Texas A&M transfer TE Theo Melin Öhrström

One of the biggest questions facing Rhett Lashlee and his SMU football program this offseason is how the Mustangs will replenish the tight end position.

Not only did SMU’s tight ends coach leave, but the Mustangs are losing their top four tight ends from the 2025 roster. RJ Maryland, Matthew Hibner and Stone Eby all graduated and redshirt sophomore Adam Moore entered the transfer portal.

SMU began its rebuild of the tight ends room with a commitment from Texas A&M transfer Theo Melin Öhrström.

Melin Öhrström entered the portal on Dec. 26 after four years with the Aggies. The Stockholm, Sweden native appeared in 40 games for Texas A&M, catching 29 balls for 352 yards and three touchdowns. In 2025, the 6-foot-6, 257-pound tight end made four starts and caught 19 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown.

Melin Öhrström redshirted in 2022, so he has one year of eligibility remaining and will have a chance to secure a bigger role during his final collegiate season. He chose the Mustangs over Houston, Kansas State and Auburn

Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

Find more SMU coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

Source link

Texas

Arizona State transfer RB Raleek Brown commits to Texas

Published

21 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Arizona State transfer RB Raleek Brown commits to Texas

Recruiting a running back out of the NCAA transfer portal wasn’t clean and simple after the winter window opened last week, but the Texas Longhorns were able to land a huge commitment from Arizona State transfer Raleek Brown on Thursday.

The 5’9, 196-pounder has one season of eligibility remaining.

Texas offered Brown out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana (Calif.) when he was a top-100 prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. A consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 3 running back nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings, Brown committed to home-state USC without taking any other official visits.

Brown’s career with the Trojans didn’t go as planned, however — after flashing as a freshman with 227 yards on 42 carries (5.4 avg) with three touchdowns and 16 receptions for 175 yards (10.97 avg) and three touchdowns, Brown moved to wide receiver as a sophomore and only appeared in two games, recording three catches for 16 yards and a touchdown.

Wanting to play running back again, Brown transferred to Arizona State in 2024, but was limited by a hamstring injury to 48 yards of total offense.

In 2025, though, Brown finally had his breakout season with 186 carries for 1,141 yards and four touchdowns, adding 34 receptions for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Brown forced 53 missed tackles last season, 67 percent of the total missed tackles forced by Texas running backs, and more than half of his rushing yardage came after contact.

Brown ran a sub 4.5 40-yard dash and sub-11 100-meter dash in high school and flashed that explosiveness with runs of 75 yards and 88 yards in 2025, so Brown brings the speed that the Longhorns need with 31 yards over 10 yards, as well as proven route-running and pass-catching ability.

At Arizona State, the scheme leaned towards gap runs, but Brown has the skill set to be an excellent outsize zone back if Texas head coach Steve Sarksian decides that he wants to major in that scheme once again.

With one running back secured from the portal, the question becomes whether Sarkisian and new running backs coach Jabbar Juluke want to add a big-bodied back to the roster or are comfortable with rising redshirt sophomore Christian Clark and incoming freshman Derrek Cooper handling that role.

Source link

Texas

Texas leaders react to fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Texas leaders react to fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

article

Texas lawmakers are lighting up social media with opinions about the fatal shooting of a woman in a car in Minneapolis by an ICE officer on Wednesday morning.

Reports from officers differ drastically from those of uninvolved eyewitnesses — the official DHS stance is self-defense against a “domestic terrorist,” while bystanders tell a story of an innocent woman trying to leave peacefully.

The political internet arena Texas is divided along party lines. Republicans generally condemn Minnesota leaders’ reactions to the shooting, while Democrats are calling for ICE to be investigated for the possible murder of a civilian by an anonymous officer.

Texas Republicans react

Among the most vocal of the Texas GOP members after Wednesday’s shooting, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Houston) was quick to question Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s dismay at the incident. Hunt posted the following to X, formerly Twitter:

“We’ve hit a breaking point in this country when an ICE officer is rammed by a lunatic in an SUV and the Mayor of Minneapolis responds not with condemnation, but by telling federal law enforcement to “get the f*ck out!”

UNITED STATES – JANUARY 22: Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Hunt, currently in the running for U.S. Senate, later reposted a Fox News video of Gov. Tim Walz’ reaction. Hunt compared Walz to Jefferson Davis before posting a full statement later in the evening that reads, in part, as follows:

“The radical left isn’t turning the temperature down, they’re cranking it to 450 degrees. When leaders normalize this kind of rhetoric, the outcome isn’t hypothetical. It’s dangerous. It’s reckless. And it puts lives at risk. If violence follows, responsibility doesn’t belong to the officers enforcing the law, it belongs to the politicians who lit the fuse.”

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz was more to the point with his criticism of Minnesota leaders, reposting a different video of Walz and referencing the recent fraud scandal within the state.

Walz in the video said Minnesota is “at war with the federal government.” Cruz replied, “Is that why y’all stole $9 billion?”

Texas Democrats react

The other side:

State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin), another candidate for the same U.S. Senate seat as Hunt, rang in from the other side of the aisle.

“At our town hall last night, I called for a full investigation into ICE,” Talarico said in his post on X. “Today, an ICE agent shot and killed a civilian. We should haul these masked men before Congress so the world can see their faces.”

State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, during a campaign event in Houston, Texas, US, on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. Talarico is jumping into the Democratic primary for US Senate in Texas, taking on a former

Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, yet another Senate hopeful, also expressed his ire for the actions in Minneapolis.

“As a civil rights attorney, I’m outraged by today’s ICE shooting in Minnesota that took a woman’s life,” Allred said on X. “No family should lose a loved one this way. No community should live in this fear. ICE has become a rogue agency — operating recklessly, terrorizing communities, and now taking lives. To every community terrorized by these tactics: I see you. I stand with you. And I won’t stop fighting until you’re safe.”

Minneapolis fatal ICE shooting

The backstory:

An ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.

Federal officials are claiming the agent acted in self-defense, but Minnesota leaders disagree. The shooting happened around 9:30 a.m. in the area of East 34th Street and Portland Avenue. The woman died at the hospital.

Witnesses told FOX Local that a woman got into a red vehicle and there was one ICE agent on either side of the vehicle trying to get in, and a third ICE agent came and tried to yank on the driver’s side door. One of the agents on the driver’s side door backed away, and then opened fire, shooting three times through the driver’s side window, witnesses said. One witness said the vehicle wasn’t moving toward the agents. However, federal officials said ICE officers were “conducting targeted operations” when “rioters” blocked officers. One of the “rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.”

Officials said an ICE officer who was “fearing for his life” fired “defensive shots” to save himself and his officers, killing the woman.

A video of the shooting shows a red Honda Pilot blocking the roadway as an ICE squad approaches. When agents approach the vehicle, the Pilot attempts to drive away, moving towards an agent. When that happens, the agent fires three shots at the driver. Police say the driver was struck in the head. The agent appears to mostly avoid the vehicle as it speeds past and ends up crashing into a parked vehicle.

The Source: Information in this report comes from public statements made by Texas lawmakers on social media. Background comes from FOX 9 coverage in Minneapolis.

Texas PoliticsU.S.Texas

Source link