Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas fetal burial rule News
Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas fetal burial rule

A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Texas [official website] on Thursday temporarily blocked [order, PDF] new Texas regulations [text, PDF] that would require the burial or cremation of aborted fetal remains. The new regulations, approved last week by the Texas Department of State Health Services [official website], were set to take effect December 19 but were challenged [JURIST report] earlier this week by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) [advocacy website], which claimed that they placed an undue burden on women seeking abortions. Judge Sam Sparks blocked enforcement of the regulations until at least January 6 and ordered a hearing for January 3.

The US Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] a controversial Texas abortion law in June. The court ruled [opinion, PDF] 5-3 in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt [SCOTUSblog materials] that HB2 [text], which imposed certain requirements on abortion clinics and doctors, created an undue burden on access to abortion, and was therefore unconstitutional.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.