by Christine Murray and Rina Chandran | Thomson Reuters Foundation

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted abortions around the world, with lockdowns complicating access in some places, while other countries made it easier to get at-home medical abortions. But despite stay-at-home orders, the world's legislatures, courts and politicians have continued to make key decisions to expand or roll back rights.

In October, 33 countries including the United States, Egypt and Brazil, signed a declaration that critics say was aimed at restricting access to abortion. Here are some of the hotspots for abortion rights in 2021:

Poland
Argentina
South Korea
United States
Slovakia
Thailand
Mexico
Philippines
El Salvador

Poland

An October court ruling in staunchly-Catholic Poland banned abortions in most circumstances and led to huge protests. Calls to an abortion support hotline in the country have increased more than five-fold since the ruling.

The decision is yet to be published in detail, delaying its implementation, with discussions reportedly ongoing as of November.

Argentina

Argentina's lower house of Congress in December passed a bill to allow abortion up to 14 weeks. Currently, women are only allowed to abort in cases of rape or serious risk to the mother.

The Catholic country's Senate - which narrowly voted against legalization in 2018 - was due to debate the legislation at the end of December.