By Perdita Henry We’re in the final days of Women’s History Month 2021. It’s a month many of us have spent thinking about the way’s women have contributed to the world; for the United States, it’s our first with a female vice president. But I can’t help but think about all the ways we continue to fail women in our country and in our state. We are a society that holds rigid constructs of what it means to be a woman and how femininity should be performed. Because of these societal expectations, women must constantly face down hurdles meant to force conformity to patriarchal standards that are r ..read more

By Perdita Henry In 2017, the Houston Endowment convened a steering committee with leaders with backgrounds in healthcare, behavioral health, social services, research, business, government and philanthropy, to understand more about the maternal mortality and morbidity rates in Harris County. “The goal of the planning process was to develop a comprehensive, long-term strategy that incorporates clinical, community-based and systems change strategies; capitalizes on existing initiatives and funding streams; tests innovative methodologies; and embraces advocacy when necessary,” Director of Impro ..read more

By Perdita Henry My first year as an eligible voter found me as an 18-year-old in Naval boot camp. As I adapted to a new life, I still found myself concerned about my other civic duty, voting. Before I entered the isolated world of Recruit Training Command, I was a regular teen watching MTV—before they completely stopped playing music videos—and being threatened by celebrities to Vote or Die. I wanted to do my part, and I never wanted to hear anything about hanging chads ever again. Two keys to civic engagement is education and access. Ensuring the people have the information needed to make i ..read more

Trigger Warning: Mental, physical, and sexual abuse is discussed. TWHC often collaborates with members to bring awareness to a host of issues that affect women’s health. In the following TWHC x installment, we’ll hear from Mary, a woman who survived family and intimate partner violence. Originally published by the SAFE Alliance, Mary wrote the following love letter to the organization to thank them for their support and encourage others to reach out for help. Mary no longer lives in Texas, but recently reached out to ask that we tell her story. We are honored that she would share this with us ..read more

By Perdita Henry and Leah Joiner The 87th Texas Legislature is off to an interesting start, but TWHC is monitoring a flurry of bills that stand to make the women’s health programs better. We’ve talked about all of them here, but over the next few weeks, we are going to zoom in on some of them and share exactly what they are positioned to do, talking points you can use, and how you can contact the house and senate representatives assigned to the committees poised to decide if the bill moves forward. This week's featured bill HB 2651 will allow women to receive 12-months of their birth control ..read more

By Perdita Henry There’s so much more to community than just who lives next door or down the street. Like everything else, the pandemic exposed the necessity of community and how closely tethered our successes and failures are to one another. The health of everyone can impact the community, which is why organizations that seek to positively influence the lives of their local populations are essential. El Centro de Corazón, founded in 1994, understands the importance of community success. Located in Houston’s East End, it was initially “a social service organization with a focus on early child ..read more

By Perdita Henry While many of us thought 2020 would be our year, just three months in we realized that perhaps this year had other plans. If life in a pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the social woes that faced our country prior to 2020 could be made worse, and women’s health is no exception. As a state, we’ve made some progress over the years to restore funding to the women’s health programs; helping ensure that more women have access to preventive healthcare and contraception. But in a pandemic world, there are concerns we might forget the lessons of the not too distant past, tha ..read more

TWHC rallied in support of: Increased funding for critical and lifesaving Women’s Health Programs 12 months of Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers Ensuring Texas women have reliable access to birth control Preventing maternal mortality Texas women need access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, birth control, postpartum healthcare, and chronic disease testing and treatment.Every day in the Capitol, TWHC personnel and leadership promote the same message. Here is a recap of TWHC Advocacy Day experiences and a reflection on how the state can improve healthcare options for women. Our ..read more

TWHC is proud to offer Texas Policymakers a toolkit for navigating critical Women's Health Policy issues in the 88th Session. We cover everything from birth control to rural healthcare access ..read more

By Perdita Henry Healthy Futures of Texas’ BAE-B-SAFE program announced that they’re heading up Interstate 35 to bring their programing to Austin Community College’s (ACC) Highland and Riverside campuses. BAE-B-SAFE currently provides evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education to 18-and 19-year-olds at San Antonio area community campuses, ,San Antonio College, ,St. Philip’s College, ,Palo Alto College, and ,Northeast Lakeview College. “We are extremely proud of the ground work laid in San Antonio,” M.Ed., CHES, BAE-B-SAFE Program Coordinator, Kelsey Olson says. “We’re thrilled to ..read more