Abortion law

Thousands of people protested in Poland against strict abortion laws after the death of a pregnant woman, DPA reported.

The Oklahoma House gave final legislative approval on Tuesday to a bill that would make performing an abortion a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

With little discussion and no debate, the Republican-controlled House voted 70-14 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has previously said he'd sign any anti-abortion bill that comes to his desk.

Poles took to the streets of Warsaw, Gdansk and other cities for a third night of protests on Jan. 30, after a near-total abortion ban took effect that gives Poland one of the most restrictive laws in Europe.

There were some small scuffles with police, who used tear gas on protesters.

Legislative path

Since it took office in 2015, PiS has attempted to tighten the abortion laws several times. Protests have always broken out and proved effective in blocking the reforms from even passing the reading stage in the parliament. However, this time, politicians have taken a legislative path that will be much harder to reverse.

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The New Zealand Parliament adopted the bill on the legalization of abortions at third reading, the New Zealand Herald reports.

68 MPs voted in favour and 51 voted against. The bill will be submitted to the Governor-General of New Zealand for approval.

Bosnia has relatively liberal abortion laws, but women in some parts of the country still face a fight to exercise their rights.

Pro-choice politicians and activists have criticised anti-abortionists for their tactic of gathering to pray outside hospitals across the country to discourage women seeking terminations.

The Irish government gave the green light on May 29 for new abortion laws to be drawn up following a historic referendum that overturned a constitutional ban in the predominantly Catholic country.

Ireland will hold a referendum at the end of May on liberalizing its restrictive abortion laws, a highly sensitive issue in the traditionally devoutly Catholic country.