The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of the Treasury (Treasury) Thursday jointly announced new guidelines intended to clarify protections for birth control coverage from both businesses and health insurance providers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The guidance clearly states that despite recent changes in US [...]

The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Wednesday released a report holding the ruling Taliban regime responsible for numerous extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and other inhumane punishments over the course of nearly a year since the Taliban seized power. UNAMA’s report extensively outlines the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. It [...]

The Supreme Court of Belarus on Tuesday rejected a complaint filed by former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya that sought to initiate criminal proceedings against the country’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) for approving the outcome of the countries recent presidential election and for the election’s result to be annulled. The Belarusian presidential elections took place earlier this [...]

Poland’s Supreme Court Monday approved the results of last month’s presidential election, allowing conservative incumbent President Andrzej Duda to continue his presidency, but also recognizing that there had been dozens of irregularities in the election process. The election had been hotly contested with Duda’s populist right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party narrowly winning a majority [...]

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has announced his dissolution of the African nation’s constitutional court in an attempt to calm the ongoing civil unrest that has recently enveloped the country. In a televised address Saturday, Keita declared, “I have decided to repeal the licenses of the remaining members of the constitutional court.” He went on [...]

After more than a year of debate, the Ohio Senate on Tuesday approved a sweeping criminal-sentencing reform bill that would reclassify most nonviolent drug possession felonies as misdemeanors. The bill, known as SB3, was passed 25-4 as a bipartisan effort with the unanimous support of every Democrat and most Republicans. SB3 reduces felony charges for [...]

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill into law that requires written parental consent for all minors having abortions and makes it a third-degree felony to violate the law. The bill was passed in February of this year after the state legislature voted 75-43 along party lines. Republican legislators argued that parents need to [...]

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 6-1 that a provision in the state’s appropriations bill that deprived Planned Parenthood of millions of dollars for medical services reimbursements, is unconstitutional. The suit challenged House Bill 2011, which was the Department of Social Services appropriations bill for 2019. The law states that “No funds shall be [...]

Judge Mitchell Turner issued a temporary injunction Tuesday blocking enforcement of an Iowa law requiring a 24-hour waiting period for abortions. The injunction was granted while the court hears arguments in a suit challenging the law brought by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa. Turner wrote that “This court is [...]

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in Beijing on Tuesday passed a new national security law (English) dramatically restricting freedom and autonomy within the region. The law remained unpublished until only an hour before it went into effect on Wednesday, and several arrests under the new regulations have already been made. Generally, the [...]