In Lubbock, Texas, a measles outbreak is causing anxiety among new parents, prompting many to vaccinate their children early. As of April 30, 7,107 babies received early MMR vaccines, the highest in six years. The outbreak, the largest since measles was eliminated 25 years ago, has spread across the state, with 722 cases reported. Vaccine skepticism, fueled by figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is exacerbating the crisis. Parents are taking precautions, with some avoiding crowded places and limiting exposure to protect their children until they can be vaccinated. Experts warn the outbreak could threaten measles elimination status.
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LUBBOCK — When Kelly Johnson Pirtle was counting down the days to her due date last year, she pictured her future as a new mom. She thought of family visits, friends becoming her village, and a healthy child.
She never considered that she might have to shield her newborn son John from a once-eradicated disease.
“You want your kids to grow up in a world that’s healthy and moving forward,” Johnson said. “That’s not true during the first few months of his life. It makes me sad.”
Pirtle is one of many new parents in Lubbock who are growing more anxious as the measles outbreak, and vaccine skepticism, spreads. And Lubbock parents aren’t the only ones terrified of their young children contracting the contagious virus. From January to April 30, 7,107 babies have received a dose of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine early, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. It’s the state’s highest number in the last six years. It could be even higher since the data only includes children whose parents opted into submitting their information to the state.
The outbreak has ballooned to 722 cases in Texas since it began in January. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the measles outbreak is now the largest single outbreak since the U.S. declared the disease eliminated 25 years ago. Nine new cases were reported Friday, the lowest number since February. However, health officials can’t consider an outbreak over until there’s been a 42-day period without a new case.
As the outbreak spreads beyond West Texas, skepticism about the vaccine has intensified, including at a national level. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic, has spread misinformation about the vaccine. Earlier this month, Kennedy ordered federal health agencies to research new treatments for measles. Public health officials have said two doses of the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent measles.
Kelly Johnson Pirtle is one of many new parents in Lubbock who are growing more anxious as the measles outbreak, and vaccine skepticism, spreads. Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune
However, a lot of time stands between those two doses and a sense of security for new parents. Doctors recommend that children get their first dose of the MMR vaccine when they are 12 months old. The timeline is shorter — just six months — for children in areas with an outbreak.
That is the case in Lubbock, about 87 miles northeast of Gaines County where the outbreak started and more than 400 cases have been confirmed. There have been 53 confirmed cases in Lubbock County. Lubbock, with a population of 267,000, is the largest city in the South Plains and serves as a medical hub for the region. Due to a dearth of rural hospitals and physicians, people from all over the region flock to Lubbock for health care.
It has left the city and its residents to figure out how to protect themselves when so much of the outbreak is out of their control. Some new parents in Lubbock have reverted to COVID-era precautions — limited contact with people outside the home and avoiding crowded places. On social media groups, women ask other moms how young babies infected with measles fared, and share details on vaccine clinics. Others share locations where cases have been reported for other parents to avoid.
And at this point, they aren’t just battling the outbreak. They are also battling the consequences of a growing distrust about the vaccine, including school and child care centers closing as cases pop up.
A 2024 KFF study found that exemption rates have gone up nationwide. The amount of kindergartners in the U.S. who were exempted from at least one required vaccine increased to 3.3%. Since 2018, the requests to the Texas Department of State Health Services for an exemption form have doubled from 45,900 to more than 93,000 in 2024.
In Lubbock County, 92% of kindergarteners reported being vaccinated against measles in the 2023-2024 school year, about 2 percentage points lower than the state average, according to latest state data.
Dr. Peter Hotez, Texas’ reigning infectious disease expert and physician, said the situation unraveling with vaccine hesitancy is part of the medical freedom movement.
“It’s a bit of phony propaganda,” Hotez said. “The only freedom being restricted is the freedom of parents who have to worry about bringing their infant to the store.”
For Pirtle and her husband, Adam, being cautious is the best way they can keep John safe until he gets the first dose. The parents found out their 3-month-old will need open heart surgery at the end of May. The surgery has a high success rate, but if John gets an infection before then, it would have to be postponed.
Even a recent trip to a friend’s baby celebration was cut short because the Pirtles feared the red patch on John’s cheek was measles; it turned out to be baby acne.
“Vaccines have always been a team effort,” Adam Pirtle said. “Like with herd immunity, we’re all part of the herd. Then all of a sudden, people decide not to play on the team. That hurts everyone.”
Kelly Johnson Pirtle swaddles John at their home in Lubbock. Pirtle’s family has reverted to COVID-era precautions until it’s safe to have their son vaccinated. Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune
Kyle Rable, the father of a 10-week-old in Lubbock, said he and his wife have also had to think carefully about where they take their son. They don’t take him grocery shopping or let strangers near him. They try to only take him out for outdoor events.
“Measles wasn’t on our radar. We were more worried about the cold and RSV,” Rable said. “We’re kind of counting down to when we can go get him that shot.”
Rable and his wife both work, so their son will start attending child care at the end of this month. They have been listening for any word on if the care center they want to go to has cases pop up.
“We can’t really not have him at day care,” Rable said. “We’re hoping everyone keeps up on their child’s vaccines to keep our child safe.”
Research has shown that measles is a potentially deadly infection where 20% of kids end up being hospitalized. The measles can cause pneumonia, brain inflammation, and permanent neurologic injury along with other long-term complications.
Hotez said babies can’t get the vaccine sooner than six months old because they have maternal antibodies that may affect the vaccine’s effectiveness.
He said the MMR vaccine is one of the safest, most effective vaccines. However, he doesn’t see the measles outbreak slowing down, as it has spread to low-vaccinated, conservative regions across the U.S. Great Plains.
“The worry I have is if this goes on for months and months, eventually we get to the point where we’ve lost our measles elimination status,” Hotez said.
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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article presents factual information about a measles outbreak with a focus on health data, parental concerns, and expert opinions. It highlights the public health implications of vaccine skepticism without politicizing the issue or promoting partisan viewpoints. The coverage centers on community impact and scientific consensus, reflecting a neutral and balanced stance appropriate for informing a broad audience.
SUMMARY: The Travis County Transformation Project (TCTP), launched in 2023, offers teens involved in family violence an alternative to juvenile detention. The program aims to address the teens’ and their families’ needs, such as mental health and substance abuse issues. However, one teen who participated in TCTP felt unsupported, as his family issues persisted. After spending time in diversion and CPS custody, the teen reoffended and was re-arrested. His attorney criticized the program for lacking a dedicated legal advocate for participants. The District Attorney’s Office defended the initiative, noting it had successfully diverted numerous teens from the justice system.
SUMMARY: The Texas Longhorns softball team is gearing up for their fifth consecutive NCAA super regional, aiming for their eighth Women’s College World Series (WCWS) appearance. They face a challenging Clemson team, a relatively new but rapidly rising program led by coach John Rittman. Clemson’s senior hitter Maddie Moore poses a big threat with impressive stats. Texas, recovering strongly from recent losses, showcased powerful hitting in the Austin regional. Both teams recognize the difficulty ahead; Texas stays focused on maintaining their aggressive and balanced play. Coaches Mike White and John Rittman share mutual respect rooted in their shared recruiting and coaching histories.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-21 14:09:00
A North Texas district court ruled in favor of Texas in its lawsuit against the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over Biden-era bathroom and pronoun policies. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that EEOC guidance, which redefined “sex” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, was unlawful. The guidance required employers to accommodate “gender identity” preferences, such as bathroom and pronoun use. The court struck down both the 2021 and 2024 EEOC guidance, ruling it exceeded statutory authority and contradicted Supreme Court rulings. Paxton hailed the decision as a victory for common sense and the rule of law.
(The Center Square ) – A north Texas district court has ruled in favor of Texas in a lawsuit brought against the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over its Biden-era Enforcement Guidance on bathroom and pronoun policies.
Last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the EEOC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and other federal officials to block an EEOC guidance that redefined the meaning of “sex” in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Center Square reported.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division, the same court where Paxton filed a lawsuit in 2021 to block similar EEOC guidance, which the court struck down.
In 2021, the EEOC issued guidance requiring employers to allow exceptions for employees with stated “gender preferences and identities” to use bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, dress codes and personal pronouns contrary to their biological sex. Texas argued the guidance was unlawful and increased the scope of liability for all employers, including the state of Texas, which employed roughly 140,000 people in September 2022, according to the state comptroller’s office.
The lawsuit was later amended to include the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a defendant after the agency promulgated a new rule threatening to cut federal funding to states that prohibit “sex-change” procedures on minors and classify the procedure as child abuse. Biden administration guidances would have allowed biological males to use women’s facilities and abolished sex-specific workplace dress codes.
The court struck down both rules, vacated the 2021 guidance and issued a binding declaratory judgment between the EEOC and Texas.
A similar ruling was issued on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. The 2024 guidance sought to redefine “discrimination” to include “gender identity,” opening up private and state employers to lawsuits if they didn’t adopt sweeping “transgender inclusive policies” and comply with “pronoun police,” Paxton argued.
“The Biden Administration unlawfully tried to twist federal law into a tool for advancing radical gender ideology by attempting to force employers to adopt ‘transgender’ policies or risk being sued,” Paxton said. “The federal government has no right to force Texans to play along with delusions or ignore biological reality in our workplaces. This is a great victory for common sense and the rule of law.”
Kacsmaryk’s 34-page ruling says the EEOC exceeded its statutory authority and its guidance was “inconsistent with the text, history, and tradition of Title VII and recent Supreme Court precedent” and vacated it.
He also rejected EEOC’s arguments, said it misread the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v Clayton County, “cited no binding authority for its metastasized definition of ‘sex,’” and contravened Title VII by defining discriminatory harassment to include transgender bathroom, pronoun and dress preferences. He also said if Congress wanted to redefine “sex” in Title VII to include “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” it would have. “But it did not,” he wrote. “Congress has the power to amend statutes to add accommodations, EEOC does not. Yet that’s exactly what the enforcement guidance does.”
Kacsmaryk also listed sections of the guidance that he said are unlawful and vacated them.
The Trump administration EEOC is unlikely to appeal the ruling.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Right-Leaning
The article predominantly frames the EEOC and Biden administration policies regarding gender identity and workplace accommodations in a critical light, consistent with conservative perspectives on these issues. The use of phrases like “radical gender ideology,” “delusions,” and “pronoun police,” which are direct quotes from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, emphasizes a dismissive stance towards transgender-inclusive policies. The selection and presentation of legal arguments and rulings that invalidate federal guidance on gender identity also align with conservative legal interpretations. While the article reports facts about court rulings and legal disputes, the language and framing favor the Texas government’s viewpoint and legislative conservatism, contributing to a right-leaning ideological perspective rather than neutral, objective journalism.
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