Latest news with #2023Act
Scroll.in
6 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
No state has confirmed adoption of 2023 Model Prisons Act: Centre tells Rajya Sabha
The Union Home Ministry told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that no state has confirmed the adoption of the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023 in their jurisdictions. However, Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that 21 states and all union territories have adopted the Model Prison Manual, 2016. The manual seeks to bring in uniformity in the basic principles governing prisons and correctional institutions in the country. The Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, meant to be a guiding document for states, addresses the gaps in the Prisons Act, 1894. Currently, the 1894 law, along with state manuals, defines the framework for jail administrations in the country. The 2023 Act contains provisions for security assessment, individual sentence planning, grievance redressal mechanisms and the use of technology, among others. In May 2023, the Centre said that states and union territories can adopt the Model Prisons Act with any necessary modifications, and then repeal the Prisons Act (1894), the Prisoners Act (1900) and the Transfer of Prisoners Act (1950). As per the Constitution, state governments are entrusted with prison administration. Kumar on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that states must allocate budgets for infrastructure like building prison libraries. In December, the ministry amended the prison manual rules to prohibit discrimination and the segregation of prisoners on the basis of caste. The changes came more than two months after the Supreme Court on October 3 struck down the prison manual rules, saying that they promoted caste discrimination in jails by allocating prisoners from oppressed communities to carry out menial jobs in jails. The October 3 order came on a petition filed by journalist Sukanya Shantha, following her investigative reporting series in The Wire on caste-based discrimination and segregation in jails. The petition highlighted that prison manuals in several states promote such discrimination. The reporting found that the division of labour was being determined on the ''purity-impurity' scale, with the higher castes handling only work that is considered 'pure' and those lower in the caste grid being left to carry out the 'impure' jobs'.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Time of India
Cops review compliance of safety norms at Jorhat hotels & lodges
Dibrugarh: Jorhat police on Tuesday launched a comprehensive inspection and verification drive at hotels, homestays, and other lodging establishments in Jorhat town to ensure strict adherence to the Sarais Act, 1867, and CCTV guidelines under the Assam Public Safety (Measures) Enforcement Act, 2023. The drive focused on verifying whether hotels and homestays have installed CCTV cameras at all entry and exit points, and common areas, as mandated by the 2023 Act. The law requires establishments to store video footage for a specified period and make it available to authorities upon request to enhance public safety and security. During the inspection, police teams checked registration records, visitor logs, and CCTV functionality. Establishments found violating the norms were issued warnings and given a deadline to rectify discrepancies. Repeat offenders could face penalties, including fines or temporary closure. "The Assam Public Safety Act is designed to safeguard both guests and hotel operators. CCTV surveillance is not just a legal requirement but a critical tool in preventing crime and ensuring accountability. We urge all proprietors to strictly follow these guidelines," Jorhat SSP Shwetank Mishra said. The Sarais Act, 1867, regulates the operation of inns and lodging houses, ensuring proper record-keeping and guest verification. The Assam Public Safety (Measures) Enforcement Act, 2023, expands on these provisions by introducing mandatory CCTV surveillance in high-risk public spaces, including hotels, shopping complexes, and educational institutions. The police department plans to conduct regular follow-up inspections to ensure sustained compliance with the safety regulations. Officials said establishments failing to meet the requirements within the specified time-frame may face legal consequences under the respective Acts.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
South Carolina Supreme Court upholds ‘fetal heartbeat' abortion ban
South Carolina's Supreme Court upheld the state's 'fetal heartbeat' law in a Wednesday ruling. Justices ruled the state can continue to ban abortion starting at six weeks of gestation, when the current law states a 'fetal heartbeat' can begin to be detected. Abortions in the state have been banned as soon as a health care provider can detect 'cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac,' under a 2023 law called the Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act. Many other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho, have passed similar 'heartbeat' abortion bans, with some Republican-led states doing so after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. The law states that such cardiac activity occurs at around six weeks after conception, but Planned Parenthood challenged the law's merit in court, arguing that it uses an alternative definition of when the fetal heart forms and when a heartbeat starts. They argue that this type of 'cardiac activity does not occur until all four chambers of the heart have formed' and that a 'heartbeat' ban should start at around nine or 10 weeks after conception. Justices noted in their ruling that the definition of a 'fetal heartbeat' in the 2023 law is ambiguous and does not convey a 'clear, definite meaning.' 'Not one of the terms the General Assembly used in the definition-not 'cardiac activity' nor 'steady,' 'repetitive,' 'rhythmic,' 'contraction,' 'fetal heart,' nor even 'gestational sac,'-is a precise medically defined term,' they wrote. Health care workers disagree on the precise meaning of these words, they added, which forced them to 'turn to rules of statutory construction and other evidence of what the General Assembly intended.' Associate Justice John Few wrote in the ruling that the language of the 2023 law was identical to a 2021 version of the law, which was understood to mean a six-week abortion ban. Because lawmakers understood the law to mean abortions should be banned in the state at six weeks, that is how lawmakers should interpret the 2023 act. 'We count at least sixty separate instances during the 2023 legislative session in which a member of the House or Senate referred to the 2023 Act as a six-week ban on abortion, many of which specifically referenced the Court's analysis of the 2021 Act,' he wrote. 'We could find not one instance during the entire 2023 legislative session in which anyone connected in any way to the General Assembly framed the Act as banning abortion after approximately nine weeks.' Anti-abortion groups called the Supreme Court's decision a victory. 'Planned Parenthood has failed in attempting to rewrite the science of human development to further their agenda for more abortions and more profit,' said Caitlin Connors, political director of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. As did South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R). 'Time and time again, we have defended the right to life in South Carolina, and time and time again, we have prevailed,' the governor wrote in a statement. 'Today's ruling is another clear and decisive victory that will ensure the lives of countless unborn children remain protected and that South Carolina continues to lead the charge in defending the sanctity of life.' Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood vowed to continue to challenge the law until South Carolinians can receive abortion care. 'Justice did not prevail today, and the people of South Carolina are paying the price,' said Paige Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, in a statement. 'People have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will, suffered life-threatening infections, and died as a direct result of this abortion ban. The cruel politics of South Carolina lawmakers are harming families and destroying a health care system as more and more providers feel the state. But we will never back down, and neither should you.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
14-05-2025
- Health
- The Hill
South Carolina Supreme Court upholds ‘fetal heartbeat' abortion ban
South Carolina's Supreme Court upheld the state's 'fetal heartbeat' law in a Wednesday ruling. Justices ruled the state can continue to ban abortion starting at six weeks of gestation, when the current law states a 'fetal heartbeat' can begin to be detected. Abortions in the state have been banned as soon as a health care provider can detect 'cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac,' under a 2023 law called the Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act. Many other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho, have passed similar 'heartbeat' abortion bans, with some Republican-led states doing so after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. The law states that such cardiac activity occurs at around six weeks after conception, but Planned Parenthood challenged the law's merit in court, arguing that it uses an alternative definition of when the fetal heart forms and when a heartbeat starts. They argue that this type of 'cardiac activity does not occur until all four chambers of the heart have formed' and that a 'heartbeat' ban should start at around nine or 10 weeks after conception. Justices noted in their ruling that the definition of a 'fetal heartbeat' in the 2023 law is ambiguous and does not convey a 'clear, definite meaning.' 'Not one of the terms the General Assembly used in the definition-not 'cardiac activity' nor 'steady,' 'repetitive,' 'rhythmic,' 'contraction,' 'fetal heart,' nor even 'gestational sac,'-is a precise medically defined term,' they wrote. Health care workers disagree on the precise meaning of these words, they added, which forced them to 'turn to rules of statutory construction and other evidence of what the General Assembly intended.' Associate Justice John Few wrote in the ruling that the language of the 2023 law was identical to a 2021 version of the law, which was understood to mean a six-week abortion ban. Because lawmakers understood the law to mean abortions should be banned in the state at six weeks, that is how lawmakers should interpret the 2023 act. 'We count at least sixty separate instances during the 2023 legislative session in which a member of the House or Senate referred to the 2023 Act as a six-week ban on abortion, many of which specifically referenced the Court's analysis of the 2021 Act,' he wrote. 'We could find not one instance during the entire 2023 legislative session in which anyone connected in any way to the General Assembly framed the Act as banning abortion after approximately nine weeks.' Anti-abortion groups called the Supreme Court's decision a victory. 'Planned Parenthood has failed in attempting to rewrite the science of human development to further their agenda for more abortions and more profit,' said Caitlin Connors, political director of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. As did South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R). 'Time and time again, we have defended the right to life in South Carolina, and time and time again, we have prevailed,' the governor wrote in a statement. 'Today's ruling is another clear and decisive victory that will ensure the lives of countless unborn children remain protected and that South Carolina continues to lead the charge in defending the sanctity of life.' Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood vowed to continue to challenge the law until South Carolinians can receive abortion care. 'Justice did not prevail today, and the people of South Carolina are paying the price,' said Paige Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, in a statement. 'People have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will, suffered life-threatening infections, and died as a direct result of this abortion ban. The cruel politics of South Carolina lawmakers are harming families and destroying a health care system as more and more providers feel the state. But we will never back down, and neither should you.'
Newsweek
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Map Shows States With Strictest Abortion Laws After SC Supreme Court Ruling
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. South Carolina's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the state's six-week abortion ban, making it among the states with the strictest abortion laws. Why It Matters Conservative states like South Carolina moved to ban most abortions after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that for decades guaranteed reproductive rights across the country regardless of one's state. Tens of millions of women live in states where abortion is banned or heavily restricted, about three years after the ruling. Voters in states like Kansas have upheld reproductive rights in ballot measures, but legal battles to restore abortion rights in some states have been less successful. What To Know South Carolina's highest court on Wednesday handed down its ruling in the case Planned Parenthood v. South Carolina, which dealt with the question of when a fetal heartbeat begins. The court sided with the state, which argued the heartbeat begins about six weeks into a pregnancy. Attorneys representing Planned Parenthood argued this only occurs when all four chambers of the heart have been formed, about nine weeks into a pregnancy. Abortion rights protesters demonstrate at the U.S. Supreme Court on April 2, 2025. Abortion rights protesters demonstrate at the U.S. Supreme Court on April 2, 2025."Based on our interpretation of the statutory definition of 'fetal heartbeat,' we hold the 2023 Act bans abortion—unless an exception applies—when electrical impulses are first detectable as a 'sound' with diagnostic medical technology such as a transvaginal ultrasound device and the medical professional observes those electrical impulses as a 'steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart' during any stage of the heart's development 'within the gestational sac,'" the ruling reads. This means that abortion will remain illegal in South Carolina after six weeks, with some exceptions for rape and incest through 12 weeks, as well as when the life or physical health of the mother is at risk. Six other states restrict abortion between 6 and 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute. Those states still allow some exceptions after the ban kicks in. Meanwhile, abortion remains illegal in most cases in 12 states, which offer varying exceptions. What People Are Saying South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a Republican, wrote in a statement: "Time and time again, we have defended the right to life in South Carolina, and time and time again, we have prevailed. Today's ruling is another clear and decisive victory that will ensure the lives of countless unborn children remain protected and that South Carolina continues to lead the charge in defending the sanctity of life." Paige Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, wrote in a statement: "Justice did not prevail today, and the people of South Carolina are paying the price. People have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will, suffered life-threatening infections, and died as a direct result of this abortion ban. The cruel politics of South Carolina lawmakers are harming families and destroying a health care system as more and more providers flee the state. But we will never back down, and neither should you. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic will continue to do everything in our power to ensure patients receive the care they need and fight for their ability to control their own bodies, lives, and futures." What Happens Next Abortion rights remain a key legislative issue for many states. In Texas, lawmakers are considering a bill that would crack down on abortion pills, reported The Texas Tribune. In Louisiana, Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, is investigating a New York doctor accused of sending abortion pills into the state.
