The stories in this site are our findings. Please read discerningly as we strive to provide an unbiased recount of the situation that plagues the people of this state, especially those in this area.
On a cold sunny day in the spring of 2014, I was sitting in my car in a parking lot when my cellphone rang. The number on the screen showed the area code was from Washington, D.C., and I hesitated to answer. After a few seconds, I decided to pick it up, and I was glad I did. That call changed my career forever.
“Hello, is this Lucinda Holt?” The caller asked. He had a friendly, yet urgent-sounding tone.
I asked him to identify himself. He said he was Manny Fernandez with The New York Times and he needed help finding out where women in the Lubbock area go for abortion. He said I had 24 hours to submit my information. After I agreed to the assignment and hung up the phone, I went on a phone frenzy calling every clinic in this area.
In my research, I came across a woman who owned a local clinic and she said she felt they were being treated unjustly. After agreeing to an interview, the CEO invited me to her office where she gave a tearful testimony regarding her treatment.
Over the summer, I was offered a position with TheHub@TTU, and I delved into these documents devoting my time to research and statistics. In the fall, investigative reporter Jeff Bunnell came on board with the project. He too has immersed himself in the research of sexual health and family planning health care throughout the state.
While I have had the pleasure of covering many stories during my time at Texas Tech University, in my opinion this has been the hardest by a landslide.
The retrieval of documents and the politics involved in the health care system has opened my eyes.
For adequate health care, citizens should not have to be placed on the back burner due to agendas. The public places their well-being in the hands of medical professionals — for better and for worse — and behind the scenes, it’s incredibly cloudy. Anyone has access to information due to Federal and State information acts but as a trained individual, I was often dismissed — despite claims of transparency.
Citizens should be able to obtain information, especially when their lives and well-being are at stake. Once again, these are my words and own personal accounts.
As you read these stories and sift through the documents, make of this what you will.
Thank you.
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