Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost admitted on Friday in a court filing that the state’s ban on most abortions is unconstitutional after voters passed an amendment to the Ohio Constitution in November 2023 enshrining access to abortion. The issue in the pending litigation is a law passed by the Ohio legislature and signed by former [...]
Search Results for: Texas abortion law
In the Halls of Brazil's Senate: Unpacking the Legacy of the US Constitution
To date, America’s greatest contribution to the world has been its Constitution. The importance of this document far surpasses such other cultural achievements as the Moon landing, the telephone, GPS, rubber vulcanization, and Henry Ford’s mass production lines. It is more important, even, than Gone With the Wind, and the hamburger — even though this [...]
Iowa lawmakers decline to advance bill removing gender identity as protected class
Iowa lawmakers declined to advance a piece of legislation on Wednesday that would have removed gender identity as a protected class under the state’s civil rights law. In a 3-0 tally, a subcommittee of the Iowa legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted against moving the bill forward. Although the bill sought to add a new category to [...]
Ohio legislature overrides governor's veto of transgender care and sports ban
The Ohio Senate voted on Wednesday to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of HB 68, which bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth and restricts transgender participation in sports. The Ohio House previously voted to override the governor’s veto on January 10. The two votes to override means the governor’s veto is void and the law [...]
HRW annual rights report: 'transactional diplomacy' threatens global human rights system
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its 2024 World Report on Thursday detailing the state of global human rights. The report’s central theme was that “transactional diplomacy” undermined global human rights institutions and enabled autocrats to worsen violations. HRW Executive Director Tiran Hassan described “transactional diplomacy” as when “governments disregard the benefits of long-term relationships built [...]
Ohio grand jury declines to charge woman with abuse of corpse after at-home miscarriage
A grand jury declined to return an indictment Thursday against Brittany Watts, an Ohio woman facing an abuse of corpse charge after suffering a miscarriage in her home. The Trumbull County prosecutor’s office stated that, after evaluating the case, they believed Watts did not violate the Ohio Criminal Statute of Abuse of a Corpse. The grand [...]
West Virginia State Senator Mike Azinger introduced a slew of bills targeting transgender people on Wednesday, including a bill to classify transgender people as “obscene matter” and a bill banning gender-affirming care for people under the age of 21. Senate Bill 195 amends the state’s indecent exposure law to criminalize engaging in “obscene matter.” It [...]
Texas Supreme Court denies abortion access to woman with pregnancy complications
The Texas Supreme Court ruled on Monday against a pregnant woman who challenged the state’s abortion restrictions. A lower court had previously granted the woman, Kate Cox, permission to receive an abortion due to pregnancy complications, despite the state’s strict abortion ban. Before Cox could safely obtain the abortion, however, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton [...]
Texas Supreme Court places hold on lower court order allowing woman to obtain an abortion
The Texas Supreme Court placed an administrative stay on Friday on a lower court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) that barred the enforcement of the state’s strict abortion bans on a pregnant woman whose fetus was recently diagnosed with a fatal condition. The court placed an administrative stay on the TRO “pending further review” and “without [...]
Texas judge allows pregnant woman access to abortion care despite state ban
A Texas judge granted on Thursday a temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the enforcement of the state’s strict abortion bans on a pregnant woman whose fetus was recently diagnosed with a fatal condition. In effect, the judge’s order allows the plaintiff to access abortion care in Texas at a point in her pregnancy when she [...]