Texas lawmakers returned to the Capitol yesterday for a special legislative session intended to address flood resilience, congressional redistricting, and the state’s booming consumable hemp industry. Katharine Neill Harris lays out the consumer risks of underregulated hemp products and commonsense measures to protect public health and child safety.

For more, read Harris’ road map for hemp regulation in Texas.

Featured guest:

• Katharine Neill Harris, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/katharine-neill-harris

Mentioned in this episode:

• Katharine Neill Harris, Victoria Jupp, and Lisa Pittman, “How a Well-Regulated Texas Hemp Industry Can Promote Public Safety,” https://doi.org/10.25613/CVDC-0V10.
• Katharine Neill Harris, Victoria Jupp, and Lisa Pittman, “Mapping Hemp Products’ Legal Status Across US States,” https://doi.org/10.25613/5C1S-Q789.

This conversation was recorded on July 14, 2025. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://bit.ly/4kPDYfG

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

This is the final episode in our three-part series on reproductive health in Texas — where we have world-class health facilities, yet rank near the bottom when it comes to women’s health outcomes. Listen to Episode 1 and Episode 2.

Texas banned all abortions in 2022, with one exception — to save the life of the pregnant patient or “prevent substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” The law’s vague language and harsh penalties for doctors who perform abortions, including possible life imprisonment and a $100,000 fine, have left OB-GYN physicians unsure of when emergency care is legally allowed and fearful of acting outside the law.

As a result, OB-GYNs across the state are reconsidering how — and where — they practice.

Alex Morin, managing director at Manatt Health and co-author of two recent studies on the ban’s impact, joins Elena Marks to discuss how legal uncertainty around the ban is reshaping reproductive health outcomes in Texas and what it means for the state’s OB-GYN workforce pipeline.

Featured:

Alex Morin, https://www.manatt.com/alex-morin

Elena Marks, J.D., MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/elena-m-marks

Mentioned in this episode:

Manatt Health, Confusion, Cruelty and Fear: Delivering Reproductive Care to Women After Texas’ Abortion Ban, https://www.manatt.com/insights/white-papers/2025/health-highlights/confusion-cruelty-and-fear-delivering-reproductive-care-to-women-after-texas-abortion-ban

Manatt Health, Texas OBGYN Physician Workforce Study, https://www.manatt.com/insights/white-papers/2024/texas-obgyn-physician-workforce-study

This conversation was recorded on May 29, 2025.

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/4kzNq7U

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

This is Episode 2 in our 3-part series on reproductive health in Texas — where we have world-class health facilities, yet rank near the bottom when it comes to women’s health outcomes.

Kari White, the Baker Institute’s new nonresident fellow in maternal and reproductive health, joins senior health policy fellow Elena Marks to discuss teenagers’ access to confidential contraceptive care.

Texas, which has one of the country’s highest rates of teen pregnancy, is one of 27 states in the U.S. that doesn’t allow minors to consent to their own contraceptive care. Kari and Elena examine the role of confidential care in teens’ health and the policy case for expanding access.

Kari is also the executive and scientific director at Resound Research for Reproductive Health and the co-author, with Laura Dixon, of a recent Baker Institute issue brief on this topic.

Featured:

Kari White, Ph.D., MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/kari-white

Elena Marks, J.D., MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/elena-m-marks

This conversation was recorded on April 28, 2025.

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/3HnKbBH.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.