A huge win for women's rights in India

This issue includes a super important ruling on reproductive rights in India, no more death penalty in Equatorial Guinea, Argentina is financially compensation a trans survivor of the former dictatorship. Plus, a lot of good news from all over the world, including Brazil, Singapore, China and Vietnam.

Equatorial Guinea abolishes the death penalty

There's a new law in town in Equatorial Guinea: The state will no longer kill anyone as a punishment for a crime they committed. (The Guardian)

Why this matters:
Death penalty breaches human rights. The last time someone was executed here was in 2014. Equatorial Guinea is one of the world's most authoritarian countries. President Obiang has spent more than 43 years in power.

Zoom out:
Although most nations have abolished the death penalty, over 60% of the world's population live in countries where the death penalty is still in practice, such as China, parts of the United States, and Nigeria. In 2021, most known executions took place in China, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria -- in that order. (Amnesty International)

Tell me more:
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo signed a new penal code. His son and Vice President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, made the announcement via Twitter on Friday saying it was "Because of his charisma, his leadership and his political experience."

cough someone wants to become President so bad cough

Tell me more about politics in Equatorial Guinea:
Well, the president's Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea holds 99 of the 100 seats in the outgoing lower house of parliament and all 70 of the senate seats. (Africanews) There will be elections in November and -- surprise, surprise -- President Obiang is running (not literally. He's 80 years old.) Also, the country (like so many other African countries) supports China, 'the U.N. is wrong about their human rights report on the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.' (allAfrica)

Why should states abolish the death penalty?
Here are some arguments for the rare case you might get into an argument with someone who's pro-death penalty:

1. There's the chance that you're executing an innocent person. Trials can be super unfair, people on trial sometimes have no real legal representation, etc.
2. A lot of times the people that get executed are those that are being discriminated against in the first place.
3. Some use it as a political tool, and not as an 'instrument for justice'. A lot of political opponents are punished by the death penalty.t
4. There is no evidence that the death penalty is any more effective in reducing crime than, say, life in prison.

A lot more people in India now have equal rights to abortion

The Supreme Court of India finally allows more people to have an abortion until the 24th week of pregnancy. Plus, the court is also thinking out loud about whether rape within a marriage is a crime or not. (Indian Express)

Why this matters:
Abortions have been technically legal in India since 1971, but over the years, the rules for who can have an abortion and until when have become so strict that even rape survivors, including children who had no idea that they were pregnant, had to go to the court it was discovered after 20 weeks. Now, women in India have more reproductive rights than in the United States.

Tell me more:
The order came on a petition brought to the Supreme Court in July by a 25-year-old single woman who had been in a relationship and was 22 weeks pregnant (two weeks past the limit). Her partner had refused to marry her and having a child out of wedlock wasn't a real option for her. 'I'm not mentally prepared to raise a child,' she said. The rule now allows that she, a single woman, aborts the baby.

You said 'a lot more people' in the title. Who else is allowed to have an abortion in India now?
The list also includes rape survivors, children, women with mental disabilities, women with fetuses that had major abnormalities and married women who were divorced or widowed during pregnancy. However, it's still not the same good news for LGBTQIA+ community, non-binary and gender-diverse people who, too,...