The death of a pregnant woman who repeatedly asked for an abortion, but was told “this is a Catholic country”, has ignited the abortion debate in Ireland.
Savita Halappanavar, a Hindu dentist originally from India, died of blood poisoning in Galway University Hospital. She was aged 31.
Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, told news media that his wife had gone to the hospital with back pains on October 21 when she was 17 weeks pregnant. She was found to be miscarrying and was admitted. Because of her pain, she asked for an abortion but was refused.
“A doctor said it was the law — that this is a Catholic country. Savita said, ‘I am neither Irish nor Catholic’ but they said there was nothing they could do,” Mr Halappanavar said.
He said the doctor told the couple that the baby would not survive, but as long as there was a foetal heartbeat “there was nothing they could do”.
After three days the baby died and its remains were surgically removed. Within hours the mother was placed under sedation in intensive care with blood poisoning. She was pronounced dead on October 28.
Speaking in the Irish parliament, Health Minister James Reilly said he had no evidence to suggest a Catholic ethos at the hospital prevented the pregnant woman’s life from being saved by a medical termination.
The government, which has been considering changes to the law banning abortion, has said two internal investigations are being held into Mrs Halappanavar’s death.
The government has been under pressure to change the law after the European Court of Human Rights two years ago ruled that Ireland was violating European Union law by not allowing abortions for life-threatening pregnancies.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation identifies Ireland as an unusually safe place to be pregnant. Its most recent report on global maternal death rates found that only three out of every 100,000 women die in childbirth in Ireland, compared with an average of 14 in Europe and North America, 190 in Asia and 590 in Africa.
Sources:
Image: The Independent
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