Stephenville is a city in,and the county seat of,Erath County,Texas,United States. It is on the North Bosque River,which forms nearby. Founded in 1854,it is home to Tarleton State University. As of the 2020 census,the city's population was 20,847,and it is the principal city in the Stephenville Micropolitan Statistical Area. Stephenville is among several communities that call themselves the "Cowboy Capital of the World".
Gregory Wayne Abbott is an American politician,attorney,and jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party,he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015 and as a justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1996 to 2001.
David Henry Dewhurst is an American politician,businessman,and attorney who served as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Texas,serving from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party,he was the Texas Land Commissioner from 1999 to 2003. He was a candidate in 2012 for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the retiring Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison,but he lost his party's runoff election to former Solicitor General Ted Cruz,who went on to win the general election.
Kirk Preston Watson is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 59th mayor of Austin,Texas since 2023,previously holding the office as the 54th mayor from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party,he ran unsuccessfully for Texas Attorney General in the 2002 election,when he was defeated by Republican Greg Abbott,later governor of Texas. In 2006,Watson was elected to the Texas Senate from District 14.
Glenn Allen Hegar Jr. is an American attorney who serves as Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. He was a Republican member of the Texas Senate representing the 18th District,west of Houston. He succeeded fellow Republican Susan Combs as comptroller on January 2,2015. He was elected Comptroller in the general election on November 4,2014.
Stephenville High School,or SHS,is a public high school located in Stephenville,Texas and classified as a 4A school by the University Interscholastic League. It is part of the Stephenville Independent School District located in central Erath County. In 2015,the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.
Wendy Russell Davis is an American lawyer and politician from Fort Worth,Texas. A member of the Democratic Party,Davis represented the 10th district in the Texas Senate from 2009 to 2015. She previously served on the Fort Worth City Council.
Douglas Bryan Hughes is an American attorney and politician who is a Republican member of the Texas State Senate for District 1. He was first elected to the Texas Senate in November 2016. Previously,Hughes was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 2003 through January 2017 as state representative for District 5,which includes Camp,Harrison,Upshur,and Wood counties in northeastern Texas. Senator Hughes authored some of the more significant legislation to come out of the 87th Session of the Texas Legislature. His bills on abortion,voting reform,and social media censorship prompted significant debate but were passed by both houses of the legislature and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott.
A six-week abortion ban,also called a "fetal heartbeat bill" by proponents,is a law in the United States which makes abortion illegal as early as six weeks gestational age,which is when proponents claim that a "fetal heartbeat" can be detected. Medical and reproductive health experts,including the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,say that the reference to a fetal heartbeat is medically inaccurate and misleading because a conceptus is not called a fetus until eight weeks after fertilization,as well as that at four weeks after fertilization,the embryo has no heart,only a group of cells which will become a heart. Medical professionals advise that a true fetal heartbeat cannot be detected until around 17 to 20 weeks of gestation when the chambers of the heart have become sufficiently developed.
Jesse David Sheffield II, known as J. D. Sheffield,is a physician from Gatesville,Texas,who was a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives.
Steve Hixson Toth is an American businessman and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 15,The Woodlands area.
Briscoe Cain is an American attorney and Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 128.
John Kevin "Jake" Ellzey Sr. is an American politician and former military officer serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 6th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party,he previously served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 10th district from January to July 2021. He served in the United States Navy as a fighter pilot,completing tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The 2022 Texas gubernatorial election took place on November 8,2022,to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Greg Abbott won re-election to a third term,defeating Democratic nominee and former Congressman,Beto O'Rourke. All statewide elected offices are currently held by Republicans. In his previous gubernatorial race in 2018,Abbott won with 55.8% of the vote.
The 87th Texas Legislature was a meeting of the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Texas,composed of the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives. The Texas State Legislature met in Austin,Texas,from January 12,2021,to May 31,2021. Governor Greg Abbott has announced three special legislative sessions during summer 2021.
The Texas Heartbeat Act,Senate Bill 8,is an act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity,which normally occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy. The law took effect on September 1,2021,after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for emergency relief from Texas abortion providers. It was the first time a state has successfully imposed a six-week abortion ban since Roe v. Wade,and the first abortion restriction to rely solely on enforcement by private individuals through civil lawsuits,rather than having state officials enforce the law with criminal or civil penalties. The act authorizes members of the public to sue anyone who performs or facilitates an illegal abortion for a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages per abortion,plus court costs and attorneys' fees.
Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson,595 U.S. ___ (2021),was a United States Supreme Court case brought by Texas abortion providers and abortion rights advocates that challenged the constitutionality of the Texas Heartbeat Act,a law that outlaws abortions after six weeks. The Texas Heartbeat Act prohibits state officials from enforcing the ban but authorizes private individuals to enforce the law by suing anyone who performs,aids,or abets an abortion after six weeks. The law was structured this way to evade pre-enforcement judicial review because lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of state statutes are typically brought against state officials who are charged with enforcing the law,as the state itself cannot be sued under the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
United States v. Texas,595 U.S. ___ (2021),was a United States Supreme Court case that involved the Texas Heartbeat Act,also known as Senate Bill 8 or SB8,a state law that bans abortion once a "fetal heartbeat" is detected,typically six weeks into pregnancy. A unique feature of the Act,and challenges to it,is the delegation of enforcement to any and all private individuals who are authorized by the Act to file civil actions against abortion providers who violate it,and aiders and abetters,while state and local officials are prohibited from doing so. Opponents stated that the Act went against the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade,which,prior to its overturn in 2022,banned states from prohibiting abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy in favor of the woman's right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
The 2022 Texas elections were held on November 8,2022. Primary elections were held on March 1,with runoffs held on May 24 for primary candidates who did not receive a majority of the vote.
Zurawski v. State of Texas is a case currently pending before the Texas Supreme Court regarding medical exceptions to the state's abortion ban. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on March 6,2023. On August 4,2023,State District Court Judge Jessica Mangrum granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction;the state of Texas appealed this decision to the Texas Supreme Court later that same day. The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on November 28,2023.
