Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist, died in Galway University Hospital last October, a week after being admitted to hospital in her 17th week of pregnancy.

Evidence to the inquest showed that her death was the result of a single mistake made on the day she was admitted. Doctors failed to follow up on blood tests which indicated she may have been fighting a life-threatening sepsis infection.

One obstetrician — who did not have care of Mrs Halappanavar — indicated to the inquest that an abortion might have saved her life.

But the evidence of the other experts pointed overwhelmingly against that conclusion, and the jury accepted the coroner's verdict of "medical misadventure".

Nine recommendations which followed all relating to systems and procedures — not to changing or clarifying the abortion law. Instead, the inquest recommended that the medical council clarify its guidelines on what constituted real and substantive risks to mothers.

In any case, it appears that Mrs Halappanavar could have received an abortion under present Irish law if it were clear that her pregnancy posed a risk to her life.

Mrs Halappanavar's husband Praveen told the Irish Times that the main reason his wife wanted an abortion was because "she wanted to be home Tuesday before her parents flew out. She wanted to be there at any cost."

In the aftermath of Mrs Halappanavar's death, her husband frequently claimed that the consultant who refused an abortion did so on the basis that "Ireland is a Catholic country".

The consultant, Dr Katherine Astbury, denied saying this, and her denial was supported by a junior doctor who was present.

The inquest established it was a midwife who made the comment about Irish Catholicism some three hours later — in the context of a broader conversation about cultural differences between India and Ireland.

Ireland is one of the safest places in the world in which to give birth. It boasts maternal death rates 33 times lower than in Mrs Halappanavar's home country of India.

Sources:

Catholic Voices

MercatorNet

Image: Galway Independent

The protests follow the mid-pregnancy death of 31-year-old Savita Halappanavar of blood poisoning in Galway University Hospital after she had repeatedly asked for an abortion.

The bishops said they shared the "anguish and sorrow" of so many following the death of Mrs Halappanavar and her baby.

Repeating a statement they made last October, they said:

• Where a seriously ill pregnant woman needs medical treatment which may put the life of her baby at risk, such treatments are ethically permissible provided every effort has been made to save the life of both the mother and her baby.

• Whereas abortion is the direct and intentional destruction of an unborn baby and is gravely immoral in all circumstances, this is different from medical treatments which do not directly and intentionally seek to end the life of the unborn baby.

• Current law and medical guidelines in Ireland allow nurses and doctors in Irish hospitals to apply this vital distinction in practice while upholding the equal right to life of both a mother and her unborn baby.

Meanwhile, a London-based specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology has been named to head a health service inquiry into Mrs Halappanavar's death and make recommendations to try to prevent a similar incident occurring again.

He is Sri Lankan-born Professor Sir Sabarantnam Arulkumaran, who is on record as advocating liberal abortion laws.

As president of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics in 2009, he co-authored an article in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics which said: "We would like to challenge and encourage societies and countries with restrictive abortion laws to look at the evidence available in favour of liberal abortion laws and debate the possibility of making the choice of termination of pregnancy a legal right for women."

Sources:

Irish Catholic Bishops Conference

The Guardian

The Irish Catholic

Image: Breaking News.ie