Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Thursday signed a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy into law. Senate Bill 300, known as the Heartbeat Protection Act, reduced Florida’s abortion window from 15 weeks down to six weeks into a pregnancy. The law contains exceptions for rape, incest, and human trafficking within 15 weeks [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday announced that it is seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend “the FDA’s scientific judgment” and to “protect Americans’ access to safe and effective reproductive care.” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland made this announcement following the Fifth Circuit’s decision to limit access to the abortion medication [...]

Human rights groups Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) Thursday released a report showing a dramatic increase in the total number of executions in Iran for 2022. The report claims that 582 people were executed in Iran—the highest number of executions since 2015. The report highlights how the number of [...]

On March 16, 2022, after the tragic events of January’s political unrest, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addressed the nation with a message entitled “New Kazakhstan: the Path of renewal and modernization,” in which the President presented a number of political reforms. It is worth noting that during the first two years [...]

Ukrainian law students and young lawyers are reporting for JURIST on developments in and affecting Ukraine. This dispatch is from Yulii Kozub, a law student from Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. He files this from Vienna.  The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently presented a “Peace Plan,” which contains 12 proposals to end the conflict between [...]

The Scottish government announced Wednesday that it will ask the judiciary to review the UK government’s decision to veto the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The legal challenge is against Scottish Secretary of State Alister Jack’s veto of the bill by using Section 35 of the Scotland Act, stopping the bill from receiving Royal Assent [...]

Amnesty International reported Wednesday that the most widely circulated newspaper in Bangladesh, Prothom Alo, has been declared an “enemy” by the Bangladeshi government, a move that Amnesty termed an attack on press freedom. On 10th April, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called Prothom Alo “an enemy of the Awami League, democracy, and the people of [...]

The Biden administration Wednesday announced a new proposed rule that would increase privacy protections surrounding reproductive health records. If passed, this rule would prevent the disclosure of health information in order to investigate, sue, or prosecute individuals seeking abortions out of state. It would also serve to protect healthcare providers who perform abortions or other reproductive [...]

The Supreme Court of India Wednesday released a statement in pursuance of its aims on inclusive infrastructure and “sexuality sensitization” on its creation of nine universal restrooms in the main building and additional buildings of the court. This development follows the letter nonbinary lawyer Rohin Bhatt wrote to the Chief Justice of India Dr. Dhananjaya [...]

Human Rights Watch Thursday released a report documenting the unlawful detention and torture of Kherson residents by Russian forces, which took place during their occupation of the Ukrainian city between March and November 2022. The report details numerous war crimes committed by Russian forces, including the willful mistreatment, torture, and killing of civilians and captured [...]