The Mississippi House of Representatives approved a measure on Thursday banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. According to the legislation, the bill was introduced out of concern that a fetus can feel pain by 20 weeks gestation. House member Andy Gipson , author of HB 1400, said the only exceptions to the proposed ban [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday struck down Virginia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. In 2006, Virginia voters ratified an amendment (Article I section 15-A) to the Virginia Constitution , which deemed marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. Judge Arenda Wright [...]

The lower house of Belgian Parliament gave final approval on Thursday to a bill that would extend the country’s euthanasia law to certain cases of terminally ill minors. The legislation , approved by a vote of 86 to 44 with 12 abstentions, would extend a 2002 law that allows euthanasia for terminally ill adults to [...]

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on Thursday announced a lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on behalf of widower Paul Hard challenging Alabama’s Marriage Protection Act and Sanctity Marriage Amendment (Sanctity Laws) which refuse to recognize same sex marriages performed outside the state. Hard married David Fancher in [...]

The Thirteenth Texas Court of Appeals on Thursday vacated a lower court’s holding that Nikki Araguz, the transgender widow of a firefighter who died in 2010, was a man at the time of her marriage, thus invalidating the union. The lawsuit was originally brought by Simona Longoria, mother of Thomas Araguz, and subsequently joined by [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Somali government on Thursday to adopt reforms to help prevent sexual violence against women and provide support for victims. HRW released a report, “Here, Rape is Normal” , with instructions for the government to establish a strategy to reduce sexual violence in the country. The report lays out five [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion on Thursday reinstating a shareholder class-action lawsuit against BP Alaska for securities fraud after the case had been dismissed by a lower federal court. The case had been dismissed for inadequate pleading in the lower court. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit found that [...]

The Bavarian justice minister Winfried Bausback presented a bill on Friday to the German Parliament that would lift the statute of limitations for certain cases involving stolen property. The law would help Jewish families seeking the return of stolen art and other valuables from Nazis. Under the current German civil code, citizens may not bring [...]

Kenyan Attorney General Githu Muigai told the International Criminal Court (ICC) Thursday that Kenya would not turn over financial records of President Uhuru Kenyatta without a court order in compliance with Kenyan law. Muigai noted specifically that his office was in no way to obstruct the ICC investigation and was merely following articles 91, 93, [...]

Egyptian authorities on Thursday ordered 242 supporters of former president Mohammed Morsi to face new trials in relation to the violent protests against the new government. Most of the individuals are low level members of the Muslim Brotherhood who are being charged for storming government buildings in Assiut. Another part of the group is facing [...]