Bonnie Pritchett/Southern Baptist Texan

AUSTIN (BP) -- It was never his plan, never his desire, but for six years Ellis Johnson called the streets of Austin home. "Six years on the street humbled me a lot," Johnson said in a telephone interview from his new home in Austin.

HOUSTON (BP) -- As pastors embroiled in a lawsuit against the city of Houston rallied thousands Sunday for the cause of religious liberty and with chants of "Let the people vote," their cohorts in the battle also were crying out for the church to repent for its retreat from the public square and its role as the public conscience.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- A lawsuit challenging abortion regulations in Texas is being fast-tracked through the appeals process and most likely will go to the U.S. Supreme Court, with attorneys for both sides navigating uncharted legal waters. As Whole Woman's Health v. Lakey is bandied in the appeals process, Texas abortion clinics have closed and now reopened since Sept. 1, the date when the House Bill 2 was scheduled to go into effect. In the latest iteration, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in mid-October that HB 2 cannot go into effect while two key provisions are under appeal.

HOUSTON (BP) -- Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott called on Houston city attorney Dave Feldman Oct. 16 to withdraw subpoenas requiring five pastors to submit their sermons to his office in regard to litigation against a new Houston Equal Rights Ordinance's protections based on sexual orientation.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- All but seven or eight abortion clinics throughout Texas were forced to close Friday (Oct. 3) due to non-compliance with a Texas law enacted last year regulating the abortion industry. The U.S. Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, ruled Thursday (Oct. 2) that House Bill 2 (HB 2) can be fully implemented while a lawsuit against two of its provisions is pending in appeals court.

AUSTIN, Texas (BP) -- Attorneys argued Friday before the U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit whether to fully implement a contested 2013 Texas law regulating abortion practices while a lawsuit against the legislation is on appeal. The decision of the three-judge panel will significantly impact the number of operating clinics statewide, reducing their number from about 20 to seven or eight if the judges rule to overturn a lower court's injunction.

HOUSTON (BP) -- A judge has set a Jan. 19 trial date for Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance (ERO), continuing suspension of the ordinance due to a disputed petition to put the measure to a citywide vote.

HOUSTON (BP) -- A district judge will hear arguments Friday (Aug. 15) in a lawsuit brought by local pastors charging city officials intervened inappropriately in the validation process of a petition calling for a referendum on the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

HOUSTON (BP) -- The Houston City Council has approved a controversial nondiscrimination ordinance broadening civil rights legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity, but opposition pastors continue to fight the law, hoping to put it before voters this fall.

HOUSTON (BP) -- Calling a controversial nondiscrimination ordinance "intensely personal," Houston Mayor Annise Parker begrudgingly voted Wednesday (May 14) to delay consideration of the proposal that would give protected status to people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Houston City Council will consider the measure when it reconvenes May 28.