Sunday, June 30, 2019

UN Women Report Shows Necessity To Recognize Diversity In Families

From Devex:

Governments worldwide need a “reality check” on outdated policies that often fail to recognize the diversity of families, new findings by UN Women show.

New measures that would support paid parental leave, the care of children and elderly people, and family law reform are all essential to ensure women are empowered inside their homes, according to UN Women’s annual progress of the world’s women report, “Families in a Changing World.” The findings were released on Tuesday afternoon at U.N. Headquarters.  

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June 30, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Fertility Doctor Inseminates Women With His Own Sperm

From NBC News:

A fertility doctor in Canada was formally reprimanded this week for inseminating at least 11 women with his own sperm and giving the wrong sperm to dozens more women beginning in the 1970s.

Dr. Norman Barwin, 80, was declared "incompetent" by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which Barwin had resigned from in 2014 after patients began to complain that their children were conceived with sperm that didn't belong to the intended father.

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June 29, 2019 in Alternative Reproduction | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday, June 28, 2019

Domestic Violence Victim Arrested for Turning in Husband's Guns to Police

From USA Today:

The Florida State Attorney's Office is being urged not to prosecute a woman who was arrested after turning in her husband's guns to police while he was in jail on domestic violence charges.

After a divorce court meeting on June 14, Joseph and Courtney Irby got into an argument, according to an arrest report obtained by the Lakeland Ledger. When Courtney Irby, 32, tried to leave, her husband followed her, rammed into her vehicle and forced her off the road, police said. 

Read more here.

June 28, 2019 in Domestic Violence | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, June 27, 2019

British Court Invalidates Ruling Forcing Mentally Challenged Pregnant Woman to have an Abortion

From National Review:

A British appeals court on Monday reversed a previous ruling that would have forced a mentally disabled woman to abort her child against both her wishes and those of her mother.

Justice Nathalie Lieven ruled Friday that an unidentified London woman, who is in her twenties but is said by the court to have the mental capacity of a six-to-nine-year-old child, must abort her 22-week-old unborn baby on the grounds that carrying the child to term would damage her mental health.

Read more here.

June 27, 2019 in Abortion, International | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Third State Set to Ban Child Marriage

From The Hill:

Pennsylvania is set to become the third state to ban child marriage, with no exceptions for the practice in the legislation.

If Pennsylvania passes the legislation currently in the state Senate, it would make it the third state to fully ban marriage for anyone under the age of 18, following New Jersey and Delaware, according to NBC News.

The bill to end child marriage, sponsored by state Rep. Jesse Topper (R), overwhelmingly passed the House this month and is expected to be signed by Gov. Tom Wolf (D) should it reach his desk, according to NBC.

Read more here.

June 26, 2019 in Child Abuse, Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Proposed 'Charlie's Law' to Endorse Parental Rights of Sick Children

From The Daily Wire:

The parents of baby Charlie Gard have received critical backing for a law pushing for parental rights of sick children. Charlie’s Law was inspired by the tragic ordeal parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard went through in 2017 when courts ordered the couple to bypass possibly life-saving experimental treatment for their infant son, instead being forced to watch baby Charlie die in a London hospital.

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June 25, 2019 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, June 24, 2019

New York State Bill to Legalise Commercial Surrogacy Hit Road Block

From BioEdge:

A New York State bill to legalise commercial surrogacy has hit an unexpected road block: Gloria Steinem. The 85-year-old icon and other feminists have joined hands with Christian and conservative groups to lobby against the proposal.

New York is one of three US states which ban paid surrogacy. However, a strong LGBT lobby and its allies have backed a new, profit-motivated approach. A bill, which is strongly supported by Governor Andrew Cuomo, has already passed in the Senate. With the 2019 session of the State Legislature winding up on June 19, the debate is becoming heated.

Read more here.

 

June 24, 2019 in Alternative Reproduction | Permalink | Comments (0)

Review of Australia's Family Law Show's Failures

From MSN News

Australian children are being placed in harm's way by the legal structure designed to determine their best interests — the family law system.
James* says the earliest memories of his childhood involve being sexually and physically abused by his father.
Also etched into his memory are the occasions he tried to tell someone what was going on and the system that didn't believe him.

James told his mother about the alleged abuse and it was reported to the New South Wales Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) and police, but in Family Court the allegations were found to be malicious and his father was awarded sole custody.
From the age of four to 13, James was the subject of proceedings in the Family Court as his mother fought to get her son back.
Now 19, James can speak for himself about how decisions made in his best interest impacted his life.

 

Read more here

June 24, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Appeals Court: Trump's Family Planning Restriction Can Take Effect

From: Politico 

A federal appeals court this morning said the Trump administration's family planning rules can take effect nationwide while several lawsuits play out, delivering a major blow to Planned Parenthood and states challenging the overhaul.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Trump administration's request to lift national injunctions ordered by lower federal courts in Oregon and Washington state, as well as a statewide injunction in California. . A panel of three judges, all appointed by previous Republican presidents, said the administration will likely prevail in the legal battle over the Title X family planning program since the Supreme Court held up similar Reagan-era rules almost 30 years ago, though they were reversed by the Clinton administration before taking effect.

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June 20, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chances of Divorce With Divorced Parents Decreasing

From the Atlantic:

Despite these challenges, the likelihood that children of divorce will go on to get a divorce themselves has diminished greatly over time. According to Wolfinger, in the early 1970s, married people with divorced parents were about twice as likely as married people from intact families to get a divorce; now, the former group is only about 1.2 times as likely to get a divorce as the latter group.

Read more here.

June 20, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Ireland New Divorce Bill Signed Into Law

From The Journal.ie

CHANGES TO DIVORCE rules voted for in the referendum last month have been officially signed into law.
Last May, an overwhelming 82% voted in favour of loosening the criteria for those who are applying for a divorce.
This is now the 38th Amendment to the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Bill.

Since divorce was legalised in Ireland, couples had to live apart for four of the previous five years before they were eligible. The laws currently proposed by Fine Gael would reduce the timeframe to wait before getting a divorce to two years, rather than four.
Culture Minister Josepha Madigan released a statement saying that Ireland feels “a lot more caring and compassionate” after the laws were changed.

Read more here.

 

June 19, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Vatican Considers Select Priest Marriage

From BBC:

June 19, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Connecticut to Enact Generous Family & Medical Leave Law

From: The National Review  

Connecticut is poised to become the latest state to join the paid family and medical leave bandwagon, enacting what is set to be one of the most generous laws in the country. The Act Concerning Paid Family and Medical Leave (the “Act”) was passed by both houses of the state legislature and is presently before Governor Ned Lamont, who has pledged to sign it.

Read more here

June 18, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cahill: "The Space In Between"

From Courtney Cahill (Florida State), writing for Family Law JOTWELL:

Professor Naomi Cahn undersells her recent Iowa Law Review article, Revisiting Revocation upon Divorce? (Revisiting Revocation), when she concludes it by saying that “this Article contributes to the ongoing conversations about the relationship between decedents’ intent, formality, and function in trusts and estates law.” (P. 1949.) While Revisiting Revocation surely makes the contribution that Cahn describes, it also does considerably more. In revisiting the increasingly common and expanding state rule that divorce revokes any transfers of probate (and sometimes non-probate) (P. 1887)) assets to a former spouse as well as to a former spouse’s family members, (P. 1886) Cahn contributes to the growing literature on the legal “spaces in between” two binaries in the areas of intimate and family life. Other scholars, including Cahn, have investigated the legal spaces in between (or outside of) the perceived extremes of marriage and non-marriage1 and of male and female.2 Here, Cahn devotes her attention instead to the legal space in between the perceived extremes of marriage and divorce. In so doing, Cahn sheds light on one of the lesser-known—but tremendously important—ways in which the law treats marriage as a relationship that differs in kind from other species of relationships and as an event that differs in kind from other life events.

Read more here.

June 18, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, June 17, 2019

U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Wedding Cake for Gay Couple

From ABC News:

For the second tme in as many years, the Supreme Court on Monday engaged on a major religious liberty case involving same-sex marriage, but is sidestepping for now the substantive issue of alleged religion-based discrimination.

The court granted the petition of Christian bakers in Oregon who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple because of their religious beliefs and wiped away a lower court ruling against them. The justices sent the case back to the Sixth Circuit for further consideration.

Read more here.

June 17, 2019 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, June 16, 2019

UK Police Blunt Knives Plan to Tackle Domestic Violence

From Nottinghampost News:

Victims of domestic violence will have their kitchen knives replaced with blunt utensils to prevent their partners attacking them in their own home.

Nottinghamshire Police are piloting the scheme where around 100 'no point' knives will be handed to victims who have either been threatened or attacked with a knife.

Police are concerned about the high level of knife-related incidents that happen in the home, and are hoping the new scheme has the potential to save lives.
 
Read more here.

June 16, 2019 in Domestic Violence, International | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Illinois Establishes Abortion as a 'Fundamental Right' for Women

From Chicago Tribune:

Surrounded by dozens of female lawmakers, women’s rights organizers and reproductive health activists, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed into law sweeping abortion rights legislation that establishes the procedure as a “fundamental right” for women in Illinois.

“In a time when too many states across the nation are taking a step backward, Illinois is taking a giant step forward for women’s health,” Pritzker said in remarks at the Chicago Cultural Center before signing the bill. “Today, we proudly proclaim that in this state, we trust women.”

Read more here.

June 15, 2019 in Abortion | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday, June 14, 2019

All Male Council in Texas Vote to Ban Abortion

From The Guardian:

The entirely white male council of Waskom in Texas has voted to make the small town a “sanctuary city for the unborn”.

The five men on the town’s council voted this week to pass legislation known as an ordinance, which declared Roe v Wade, the landmark supreme court decision which legalized abortion, “unconstitutional”.

The move, which is itself unconstitutional, comes after a raft of abortion bans have passed in states from Missouri to Ohio.

Read more here.

June 14, 2019 in Abortion | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Rapists and Parental Rights

From The Washington Post:

When a young woman came to the Family Services of North Alabama office last year for help with trauma, saying she had been raped by her step-uncle when she was 15, rape crisis advocate Portia Shepherd heard something that “killed me, shocked me.”

The step-uncle, who was getting out of jail after a drug conviction, wanted to be a part of their child’s life. And in Alabama, the alleged rapist could get custody.

Read more here.

June 13, 2019 in Abortion, Child Abuse, Custody (parenting plans) | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Botswana High Court Decriminalizes Homosexuality

From NPR News:

Botswana's high court has thrown out a colonial-era law that criminalized same-sex relations in a landmark ruling lauded by activists. People who broke the law had faced the threat of a seven-year prison sentence.

The case was brought by a young activist who said Botswana's society had changed since sections of the country's penal code were enacted, banning the "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature." On Tuesday, the court agreed.

Read more here.

June 12, 2019 in International | Permalink | Comments (0)