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Author: Lisa Kowalchuk, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Guelph

Around the world today we are seeing two opposite tendencies in abortion law reform.

In the Americas, the governments of Bolivia, Chile and Mexico City recently lifted total bans on abortion. Other jurisdictions such as Ohio, several states in Mexico and Poland have passed or attempted tighter restrictions.

Even Doug Ford, the leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party, has voiced openness to making abortion more difficult to access.

In El Salvador, the clock is ticking towards a May 1, 2018, deadline for reform that would decriminalize abortion in two situations: When the life of the pregnant woman is in danger and when an underage girl (but not an adult woman) becomes pregnant through rape.