[JURIST] Following mass protests in Poland [JURIST report], legislators have reversed their positions and rejected a near-complete abortion ban. Members of the lower house of parliament voted 352-58 Thursday against the proposed legislation. Some are cautioning that this recent reversal is no cause for celebration [AP report]. Dutch lawmaker, Sophia in’t Veld [official profile] said that the law as currently constructed will still not give women a choice, as abortions are already banned in most cases in Poland.

Abortion access and reproductive healthcare [JURIST backgrounder] remain contentious issues worldwide. In July the Irish Parliament defeated a bill [JURIST report] that would have allowed abortion in Ireland where the child would not survive outside of the womb. The High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland in November ruled that Northern Ireland’s abortion laws, which only allow abortion when the mother faces the risk of death or serious injury, are a violation of human rights [JURIST report]. According to an Amnesty International report released the same month, El Salvador’s complete ban on abortion negatively affects [JURIST report] not only women and girls, but also their families