As U.S. may restrict abortion, other nations are easing access

An abortion-rights activist wears a mask with text that reads in Spanish "Legal Abortion" during a rally outside Congress as lawmakers debate a bill that would legalize abortion, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. (Natacha Pisarenko/AP)

Natacha Pisarenko / Natacha Pisarenko

As women in the United States find themselves on the verge of possibly losing the constitutional right to abortion, courts in many other parts of the world have been moving in the opposite direction.

That includes in a number of traditionally conservative societies — such as recently in Colombia, where the Constitutional Court in February legalized the procedure until the 24th week of pregnancy, part of a broader trend seen in parts of heavily Catholic Latin America.

It’s not yet clear what impact there will be outside the United States from the leaked draft opinion suggesting the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.