The Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation

This powerful article highlights the exodus of OB-GYNs from Texas due to abortion bans and their harmful impact on pregnant women and physicians in the Rio Grande Valley. It cites a Manatt Health study we are honored to have commissioned. https://lnkd.in/gJaDFKPW

We applaud our partner the Environmental Integrity Project for spotlighting toxic releases into our waterways from plastics production plants. Unfortunately, our region is home to the top offender. https://lnkd.in/gHdATntx

Like many of you, we are reflecting on the election results, both nationally and here in Texas, and anticipate efforts to backtrack on climate progress and further restrict reproductive rights. Guided by our values of equity, justice and bold action, we will double down on the Foundation’s unwavering determination to support small teams with big punch, and to embrace both systems change and harm repair. We exist to “fund the fighters,” and will continue to support those leading from the front lines. We are encouraged by the voters of the City of Amarillo, who rejected an abortion travel ban. We are grateful to our partners who educated, organized and mobilized their neighbors to soundly defeat the first anti-abortion ordinance placed on a citywide ballot in Texas. We know that this model of deep, relational community organizing is how we will advance reproductive, climate and environmental justice in our state, and we are committed to supporting this work over the long term. In solidarity with those striving for change – The Board and Staff of the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation https://jthershey.org/

Kudos to Jackie Medcalf, Executive Director at our partner the Texas Health and Environment Alliance, for this powerful piece reminding us that climate change increases the risks from Superfund and other toxic waste sites. https://lnkd.in/gAvMxqvx

We are proud to have supported the production of "Zurawski v. Texas," a powerful new documentary that tells the story of women who, after being denied abortion care despite life-threatening circumstances, joined forces to file a lawsuit against the state. The film is streaming free this weekend - please share widely! https://lnkd.in/eucxXkFt

Kudos to our partner the Healthy Port Communities Coalition for commissioning an independent review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plans to dump dredging material from the expansion of the Houston Ship Channel in nearby neighborhood. Here's hoping the Corps accepts their invitation to appoint a reviewer. https://lnkd.in/gpFvA45W

We were pleased to commission this new report from Manatt Health, which finds that abortion restrictions in Texas are prompting personal and professional changes among OB/GYN physicians and resident physicians that will reduce access to care and exacerbate the challenges that our state already faces in meeting demand for reproductive health services. https://lnkd.in/g8yKtU9s

Join us October 10 at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy for a discussion of the findings from a study we commissioned examining the impact of Texas' abortion laws on the ability of physicians to provide evidence-based reproductive health care. This breakfast event is free and open to the public. Register through the link below, and stay tuned for the study's release next week. https://lnkd.in/gZiYxvTT

We are grateful to our partner Commission Shift for detailing how the Railroad Commission of Texas is on track to authorize venting or flaring an unprecedented 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas by the end of the decade - enough to fuel every residential gas customer in Texas for 15 years. https://lnkd.in/gqWcnXyp

We are grateful to our partner Resound Research for Reproductive Health and its collaborators for continuing to document the increased morbidity, serious medical complications, and impacts on mental health among pregnant patients due to restrictive abortion bans in states like Texas. https://lnkd.in/gbqZyurn