Michael Hiltzik: As professionals flee antiabortion policies, red states face a brain drain

A few days ago, a university headhunter reached out to Elizabeth T. Jacobs, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Arizona, to gauge her interest in moving to a leading university in Texas.

Under normal circumstances and in professional terms, the opportunity would have seemed intriguing. "It was an attractive situation," Jacobs told me. "It was at an institution I have a lot of respect for, and I would not have dismissed it out of hand."

But the political environment in Texas is not normal, in Jacobs' view. She informed the recruiter that "under the current state leadership I didn't think my family would be safe in that state."

Jacobs had a lengthy list of concerns about policies being implemented by Texas' Republican governor, Greg Abbott.

By executive order, including school districts and public health agencies, from issuing mask mandates. He signed a bill allowing Texas residents to carry a gun without a permit.