UK MPs back decriminalization of abortion

Nepal supreme court throws up another delay in same-sex marriage case

UK: MPs are debating a controversial Crime and Policing Bill that is a mixed bag for sexual and LGBT rights. The headline so far is that MPs have added an amendment to decriminalize abortion – meaning women will no longer be charged for inducing an abortion outside the legal/medical framework that still exists for hospital abortions (for example, by buying abortion pills online, or aborting after the time limit).

The bill also includes stiffer penalties for hate-motivated crimes, including against LGBT people.

However Amnesty International warns that it gives police broad and unnecessary powers to clamp down on protest.

The bill awaits a final vote in the House of Commons, where it is expected to pass easily, and then must be approved in the House of Lords.

Mexico: The governing PAN in Guanajuato has agreed to a bill to ban conversion therapy in the state, though there’s some quibbling about its actual text which ought to be sorted out in committee. The vote is expected on June 26, along with a vote on a same-sex marriage codification bill, though the PAN has been unclear what its intentions are there.

The city of Pachuca, Hidalgo replaced the offensive term “sexual preference” in its police ordinance with “sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Nepal: The same-sex marriage case at the Supreme Court has been delayed yet again, as the justices have decided to refer the matter to a full constitutional bench. The linked story includes a lot of confusing dates using the Nepali calendar, but this is the interpretation I’ve gotten from a leading Nepali LGBT activist’s Facebook.

Meanwhile, in the States

A federal judge found the Trump administration’s cuts to grants from the National Institutes of Health were unconstitutionally motivated by racial and anti-LGBTQ bias, and ordered the grants reinstated.

Groups from 17 states are suing the Trump administration over its cuts to domestic violence programs, arguing Trump overstepped his authority by ordering grant recipients not promote DEI or respect trans people.

The Trump administration issued new guidelines to the Veterans Administration removing certain classes of prohibited discrimination by doctors. Under the new guidance, doctors are now allowed to refuse to see VA patients due to their political affiliation, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital status, and the VA is now permitted to discriminate against employment candidates on those grounds.

US Rep Sarah McBride gave an interesting interview on Ezra Klien’s podcast about why she thinks the left has lost so much ground on trans rights.

New York: The US Supreme Court has ordered state courts to once again reconsider a previous ruling on whether certain religious organizations should be given a exception to a state requirement that their insurance programs cover abortion care.

Colorado: The state is looking to add up to 150 sites important to LGBTQ and minorities communities to its own list of historic places, following a move by the National Park Service to add the Boulder Courthouse to the National Historic Register for its role in the fight for same-sex marriage.

Indiana: Governor Mike Braun says he will not order any more lethal injection drugs for the state and is urging legislators to reconsider the death penalty. Braun has already authorized one execution since he took office in January.

North Carolina: State Republicans are attempting to add language defining trans and intersex people out of existence and banning the use of state funds for gender care for people in prisons to an unrelated bipartisan bill about revenge porn. Classy.

South Carolina: Columbia city council voted to repeal its ban on conversion therapy amid threats from the state attorney-general and governor.

Massachusetts: A bill that would repeal the state’s sodomy and ‘walking while trans’ laws has been advanced out of the judiciary committee and was sent to the joint rules committee, which has since discharged it to the senate rules committee. I think this means it’s just up to the houses to schedule it for actual debate/votes now.