Independent experts for the UN determined [press release] Thursday that an Irish woman was “subjected to discrimination and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” when seeking an abortion. The woman, going by “AM,” discovered her fetus suffered from fatal congenital defects in 2011 and, as a result, AM would miscarry. She was 21 weeks pregnant at the time. Under Irish law, AM was faced with the option of either carrying her dying fetus to term or seeking abortion services outside of the country. The UN made note that while AM sought medical treatment in the UK at her own expense, she was separated from any family or support and had to return to Ireland within hours of the procedure due to financial circumstances. Upon returning to Ireland the woman was denied medical treatment [UN News Centre report] usually offered to women who suffer miscarriages. Under the law, AM was encumbered by restrictions on disseminating information on abortions placed on health care providers. Such providers face sanctions if they cannot distinguish between informing or “supporting,” and “promoting” abortion procedures. The UN called on the nation to balance the rights of the fetus with the rights of the woman.

Abortion access and reproductive healthcare [JURIST backgrounder] remain contentious issues worldwide. In April Polish citizens protested a possible total abortion ban [JURIST report] following the suggestion of the ruling legislative party’s president. The ruling conservative Law and Justice party wanted to bring the country’s abortion policies in line with the Catholic Church’s views on the practice. The High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland in November ruled [judgment] 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. A Dominican court in December blocked [JURIST report] a new law that would have decriminalized abortion if a pregnant woman’s life was at risk, thus reinstating a total ban on abortion within the country.