The Tennessee House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday that criminalizes adults who knowingly take minors away from Tennessee to help them receive gender-affirming medical procedures without the consent of their parents. The companion bill was introduced to the Tennessee House of Representatives on January 29, 2024 as HB 2310 by Representative Bryan Richey [...]
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The Hong Kong Legislative Council unanimously passed the Safeguarding National Security Bill recently. Both the Chinese National People’s Congress Standing Committee and the Hong Kong government have stressed that this enactment is a constitutional duty conferred on the government under Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, which serves as Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. The [...]
King Charles III has given his assent to the UK government’s legislation which will allow asylum seekers to be sent to Rwanda. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill 2024 received Royal Assent on Thursday and will now become law in the UK. Royal assent is the final stage in the British legislative process, [...]
US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Idaho abortion ban case
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case concerning whether a 1986 federal law preempts Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. The Idaho statute criminalizes performing or attempting to perform an abortion unless not doing so would result in the mother’s death. The Biden administration argues that the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act [...]
EU Parliament approves ban on products made with forced labour
The EU Parliament on Tuesday approved new regulations prohibiting the sale, import and export of goods made using forced labour. The regulations, were approved by an overwhelming majority, with 555 in favour and six against, and aim to tighten access to EU single market for third countries. According to the press release, the regulations give [...]
A group of 120 protesters were arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment Monday in front of New York University’s business school, according to NYU student newspaper Washington Square News. The arrests come as Columbia University, citing safety, shifted its classes on its Morningside, Manhattan campus to a hybrid online/in-person format after a protest encampment there became [...]
The US Department of State released its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Monday, amidst the seventy-fifth anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR. The report emphasized “several new commitments, including to renew investments around the world in democracy and human rights, to help protect human rights defenders online, [...]
Legislating Identity: A Critical Analysis of the Anti-LGBT Bills in Kenya and Ghana
Recent Afrobarometer survey data (Round 8, 2019-2021) paints a stark picture with 86% of Kenyans and 93% of Ghanaians expressing intolerance towards the LGBT community. This high level of intolerance exists despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteeing non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. Furthermore, across Africa, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual activity remain commonplace. [...]
Ukraine anti-corruption agency accuses food minister of illegally acquiring state-owned land
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on Tuesday announced that it had exposed a scheme to illegally acquire state-owned land worth $7 million between 2017 and 2021 led by a criminal group involving the country’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Mykola Solsky. The NABU didn’t openly name the Ukrainian minister but said the [...]
UK Parliament approves bill declaring Rwanda a 'safe country,' sidestepping Supreme Court judgment
The UK’s Parliament on Tuesday approved the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, which would declare Rwanda a “safe country” in order to send certain asylum seekers there while they await their applications to be assessed. The bill would enable the deportation of irregular migrants under the UK-Rwanda international treaty on asylum partnership. The [...]