Jacob had studied law at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and was appointed head of legal services for displaced persons in the US Zone of Southwest Germany.

[3][10] She attended Oakwood Collegiate Institute and Bathurst Heights Secondary School in Toronto, Ontario.

[12][2] The theories of equality and discrimination developed in the report were adopted in Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia (1989), the Supreme Court of Canada's first decision regarding equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[2] Its recommendations report was also adopted by jurisdictions including New Zealand, South Africa, and Northern Ireland.

[12] In 1988, Abella moderated the televised English-language leaders' debate between Brian Mulroney (PC), John Turner (Liberal) and Ed Broadbent (NDP).

[2][15] In 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed Abella to the Supreme Court of Canada.

[17] In February 2021, she announced that she would retire on that date, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau started the selection process of a new justice who would succeed her.

[2] She was awarded the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.

[23] In 2012 she was awarded the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.