policy
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Family courts are asked to make some of the hardest decisions in society. Where should a child live?Who is fit to care for them?What environment is safest, healthiest, and most stable? These questions matter deeply, and judges carry enormous responsibility in answering them. But too often, the system designed to protect children gets one critical…
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It is personal in the empty refrigerator someone quietly closes before the children wake up. It is personal in the mother choosing between gas money and groceries, in the father working two jobs and still falling behind, in the grandmother stretching medication because the rent is due. Poverty lives in stress, shame, exhaustion, and the…
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By: Elizabeth Havard *Opinion | April 21, 2026* Every generation inherits a story about poverty, and ours goes something like this: if you work hard enough, long enough, and smart enough, you will not be poor. It is a clean and comforting narrative. It is also, for millions of Americans, dangerously incomplete. The myth of…
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This is a comprehensive, data-driven breakdown of what has happened to maternal and infant health in Texas following the abortion restrictions, beginning with SB 8 in September 2021 and accelerating after Roe’s overturn in June 2022. Overall Death RateRestricting access to abortions has correlated with a **56% increase in maternal deaths** in Texas compared to…
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By a Fellow Veteran of the 12-Hour Circus Let’s start with a quick anonymous survey for my fellow bedside healthcare workers — particularly CNAs and LVNs/LPNs, the real front-line infantry of healthcare. During your last shift, how many times did you get: • Hit• Scratched• Bitten• Spit on• Grabbed inappropriately• Called something wildly creative that…
Poetry & Politics 