All articles tagged with #legal uncertainty
President Trump indicated that if the courts rule his tariffs illegal, the US might undo trade deals with countries like the EU, Japan, and South Korea, highlighting the legal and economic uncertainty surrounding his tariff policies and the potential impact on global trade.
The aftermath of miscarriage has become dangerously unclear in the US post-Roe v Wade, as illustrated by the case of Brittany Watts, who faced criminal charges after miscarrying at home due to Ohio's abortion ban. The legal landscape surrounding miscarriages and fetal remains is murky, leaving many women in fear and confusion. With the overturning of Roe v Wade, the legal status of fetuses has led to uncertainty and potential criminal consequences for individuals dealing with miscarriages, while healthcare providers are also facing challenges in providing care. The lack of open conversation about miscarriages further adds to the distress and isolation experienced by those who have gone through pregnancy loss.
The recent Texas Supreme Court ruling in the case of Kate Cox, a woman seeking an abortion due to a fatal genetic condition in her fetus, has left doctors in Texas fearful of prosecution and without clear guidance on which cases might pass legal muster. The ruling, which overturned a district court's decision granting Cox a medical exception to the state's strict abortion bans, highlights the confusion and fear among doctors, resulting in a significant decline in abortions in Texas. The lack of clarity in the law has deterred doctors from performing necessary abortions, leading to potential harm to women's health. Abortion rights advocates are waiting for the court to rule in a separate case aimed at resolving confusion about medical exceptions and protecting doctors from civil or criminal punishment.
The Arizona state supreme court is set to hear arguments on whether to reinstate an 1864 abortion ban that only allows the procedure to save a pregnant woman's life, with no exceptions for rape or incest. This ban, along with a ban on abortions past 15 weeks, has caused confusion and uncertainty among abortion providers in the state. The potential reinstatement of the 1864 ban, which has not been enforced for half a century, would be unprecedented and clash with the current regulatory structure around abortion. Planned Parenthood has argued that the ban conflicts with Arizona's other abortion regulations and is working to gather signatures for a 2024 ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
The UK government has abandoned its commitment to remove all EU laws by the end of 2023, instead proposing to revoke only around 600 of the almost 4,000 EU laws remaining since Britain left the bloc in 2020. The Retained EU Law (REUL) bill had aimed to automatically remove any remaining EU laws at the end of this year unless they were explicitly chosen to be saved. The decision has sparked warnings from business and the opposition about legal uncertainty and bureaucratic chaos.
Blue states, including California, are stockpiling abortion medication amid legal uncertainty at the federal level. California has secured 250,000 misoprostol pills and negotiated the purchase of up to 2 million. Other Democratic governors, including those of Washington and Massachusetts, are also buying abortion medication in bulk. The move comes after a Texas judge invalidated the FDA's approval for mifepristone, another medication commonly used in the procedure. Misoprostol can also be used by itself to end a pregnancy, which could provide a backstop if mifepristone suddenly becomes unobtainable.