The panel explores the challenges faced by public institutions in dealing with abortion regulation. David Kenny will address the ongoing debate on the repeal of the 8th Amendment of the Irish constitution; Antonia Baraggia will compare the current abortion regulation in US and Europe under a constitutional point of view, arguing that federalism may be a valuable tool in order to avoid the polarization of the opposite perspective on abortion regulation. Francisca Pou Giménez‘s paper addresses the role of federalism in abortion regulation in Mexico. Lolita Buckner Inniss will address the origin of the first statute that is cited as the first United States statute to criminalize abortion. She argues that it marked the beginning of a process of using formal law to rein in social, religious and sexual autonomy.