The Biden administration Friday filed an emergency application with the US Supreme Court to restore the broad availability of the abortion medication mifepristone while legal challenges regarding access to the drug are resolved. The administration asked the court to stay the entirety of Texas federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling from earlier this month that suspended [...]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Friday began facilitating the exchange of nearly 900 prisoners detained in Yemen’s long-running war. The exchange is expected to last several days, with only 318 prisoners exchanged and reunited with their families during the first day of the operation. The operation represents the most significant prisoner exchange [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Thursday criticized the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) decision to block the registration of legal advocacy group Lawyers for Justice. HRW condemned the move as a thinly-veiled attack and part of an attempt to crush the PA’s critics. Lawyers for Justice represents Palestinians detained by the PA in the West Bank through the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]