Source: Reason
by CJ Ciaramella
“When the second Trump administration issued an order threatening to strip federal funding from K-12 schools that teach children ‘anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies’ related to gender and race, it was lifting from Florida’s playbook. Likewise, the administration’s campaign against universities on such issues as anti-Israel protests, transgender athletes, and critical race theory were all preceded by Florida, where a powerful executive branch, Republican-controlled Legislature, and conservative state Supreme Court allowed Gov. Ron DeSantis to apply intense pressure to public universities and school districts. … In March, Maria Rojas, a Texas midwife who operated four clinics for low-income women in Harris and Waller counties, became the first person in the state arrested for allegedly providing illegal abortions. Rojas'[s] case was the first opportunity for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office to flex its new criminal and civil powers under a trio of anti-abortion bills passed in 2021.” (for publication 11/25)