Two Catholic midwives who, in April, won a legal case at Scotland's supreme civil court for the right to conscientious exemption from all involvement in abortion procedures, now face a further legal challenge.

The Spanish Government is preparing a reform to the country's abortion law that, some have argued, will return Spain to a situation similar to the one that existed under General Franco's dictatorship.

Two Catholic midwives have won a legal battle for the right to conscientious exemption from all involvement with abortions. Mary Doogan and Concepta Wood argued that being required to supervise staff taking part in abortions violated their human rights.

A new YouGov survey commissioned for the Westminster Faith Debates finds only 14% of Catholics in this country are in favour of a ban on abortion. 43% of people who identify with a religion are in favour of keeping or raising the current 24 week limit

The Pope has given his personal support to a campaign being run by right-wing Catholics to have abortion "defunded" throughout the European Union.

"Conscience clauses" that permit religious pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency contraception or the "morning after" pill are unsatisfactory and should be dropped, say experts.

Two Scottish Catholic midwives who didn't want to supervise staff who carried out abortion procedures have appealed to the Court of Sessions after their arguments were rejected in a judicial review last year.

In 2012, 19 states in the USA enacted 43 provisions that "sought to restrict access to abortion services," according to the Guttmacher Institute.

The Philippine parliament approved legislation on Monday that permits government funding for contraception and for sex education classes in schools.

The Presidents of the European Council and European Commission today heard a plea for greater protection for pregnant women's right to life following the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland.

The Irish Government has paid substantial compensation to a woman who was forced to travel abroad for an abortion, despite being terminally ill with cancer.

Members of the European Parliament have this week examined Tonio Borg's bid to join the European Commission. Alarm has been raised about Mr Borg's performance in his home country of Malta, where he has opposed women's rights, gay rights and issues such as contraception and abortion.

The Secular Medical Forum has condemned the state of abortion laws in Ireland after a 31-year old woman died of septicaemia following a protracted miscarriage in Galway, Ireland.

Poland's harsh anti-abortion laws were condemned this week by the European Court of Human Rights after an almost unbelievably callous series of events were inflicted on a teenage victim of rape.

Secular groups around Europe are preparing to oppose the nomination of the Maltese Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg to replace the recently resigned European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection.

The lower house of the Irish Parliament has rejected a private member's bill to ease the Republic's abortion laws. In a vote of 109 to 20, the Dáil rejected the bill brought by Clare Daly of the opposition Socialist Party that would permit "termination of pregnancy where a real and substantial risk to the life of the pregnant woman exists."

Two very contrasting statements about abortion and contraception were made this week at the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.

The Christian anti-abortion group 40 Days for Life are celebrating Lent by picketing abortion clinics, spreading misinformation and generally making life difficult for clinic staff and women using their services.

Two Catholic midwives have lost a legal battle after claiming that being asked to supervise nurses involved in abortion procedures violated their religious conscience.

Spain's new right-wing government, headed by the People's Party, has announced that it will seek to reform the nation's abortion law, which permits abortion on demand during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and allows minors to obtain the procedure without parental permission.