The Irish are embroiled in an abortion debate that some have dubbed the Irish Roe v. Wade. The country has liberalized its notoriously tight social politics over the course of the past two decades, but has Ireland's grim economic situation made politicians scared to push for progress when it comes to abortion?

The battle began earlier this month when three Irish women (each of whose physical or emotional health had been severely threatened during pregnancy) brought a case to the European Court of Human Rights after being forced to travel abroad to obtain legal abortions, arguing that a ban on the procedure in Ireland violates overarching human rights laws across Europe. As it stands currently, a woman can't terminate a pregnancy in Ireland unless her life is in danger.

The case has put Ireland's reproductive rights under a magnifying glass, and a huge faction is crying out that the Irish need to get in step with the rest of Europe by making abortion safe and legal. But now may not be the ideal time to coerce politicians aboard the pro-choice bus: Ireland's economy has suffered enormous contractions since 2007 and public figures are wrought with fear. Take Attorney General Paul Gallager, who maintains that Ireland's abortion laws are founded on "profound moral values deeply embedded in Irish society."

The Guardian's Mary Fitzgerald wrote: "Until very recently, Ireland's progressive social change went hand in hand with economic liberalization -- and now that the resulting boom from the latter is over, reasoned political debate over the former seems paralyzed. Politicians, weakened by public anger, no longer have the courage -- or clout -- to take on anything controversial."

And so it follows that the European Court's decision is monumentally important. If abortion policy reform is blocked by domestic political fears, it's got to come from a higher power. What's more is that countries with similarly conservative reproductive rights -- like Poland, Spain and Malta -- are eagerly awaiting the case's outcome to gauge how their own policies might be impacted.