Opposition conservative lawmakers, as well as the left-wing ruling FMLN party, fear easing the abortion ban would come at a political cost as it could alienate voters and the church.
El Salvador is one of 28 countries globally that prohibits abortion in all circumstances, according to the Centre for Reproductive Rights.
Rights group Amnesty International says this outright abortion ban is a leading cause of maternal mortality because it forces women to undergo dangerous back-street abortions.
The ban in El Salvador has led to 129 women being prosecuted for abortion or aggravated murder, of which 26 were convicted of murder and imprisoned, according to the Citizen Group for the Decriminalisation of Therapeutic, Ethical and Eugenic Abortion (CFDA), a local rights organisation.
The campaign to free the 17 women by CFDA and international human rights groups has highlighted the impact of El Salvador's abortion law on women, who in many cases are already young single mothers, from poor backgrounds and with little education.
Wealthier women can travel abroad for abortions in private clinics but El Salvador's healthy ministry estimates there are 6,500 clandestine abortions in El Salvador every year, and 11 percent of women and girls who have undergone a clandestine abortion have died, according to the World Health Organisation.
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