Catholic and pro-life leaders have strongly criticised the Irish government for deciding to introduce legislation to legalise abortion in cases where the mother’s life is deemed to be at risk.
The Fine Gael-run government’s action follows the death of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian woman who was admitted to a Galway hospital while miscarrying. She reportedly asked for an abortion and later died of a severe infection.
The cause of her death is still being investigated, but abortion advocates seized on her case to claim legal abortion would have saved her life and to push for changes to the law.
Pro-life leaders in Ireland and abroad, however, have slammed the media and abortion campaigners for exploiting the young woman’s tragic death despite the dearth of details about what actually happened.
They also say there is clear evidence that pro-abortion groups knew about Mrs Halappanavar’s case days before it hit the media, and that they were already planning on using it to further their cause.
A leaked email dated November 11 — three days before the Irish Times broke the story — indicates that the Irish Choice Network had been given prior knowledge of the case.
The email advised followers of the pro-abortion group that “a major news story in relation to abortion access is going to break in the media early this coming week”, and said this would be the basis of a prearranged protest calling for abortion outside the Irish Parliament.
Pro-life leaders have reminded Prime Minister Enda Kenny and the Fine Gael party of a pro-life commitment they made before the 2011 election, and said breaking that promise would have consequences at the next election.
Ireland’s Catholic archbishops have said the proposed law would “pave the way for the direct and intentional killing of unborn children”.
They also said it would harm the country’s world-renowned health care practices for mothers.
The republic is in fact one of the safest countries in the world for pregnant mothers, losing only three out of every 100,000 women in childbirth. The average number in Europe and North America, where abortion is freely available, is 14 per 100,000.
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Image: Catholic Sun