Appeals court upholds parental consent for birth control; Texas Medical Board to clarify abortion exceptions

A U.S. appeals court has upheld a Texas law mandating parental consent for teenagers seeking birth control at federally funded clinics. “The federal program looks at free contraception for everyone,” Texas Tribune senior managing editor Ayan Mittra explains. “And so the justices on the court, in making this ruling affirming this lower court’s ruling about requiring parental consent to obtain contraception, they basically said that this ruling in this decision really doesn’t conflict with the federal program because the federal program focuses on encouraging family participation.” Another crucial update in...