From The Independent UK: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/irish-demand-reform-to-abortion-law-8326462.html
Anger grows after dying woman’s pleas for a termination ignored
David McKittrick
Sunday 18 November 2012
An unprecedented surge of public anger in the wake of the death of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian dentist living in Galway, now seems to have made it inevitable that politicians in Dublin will be forced to ease restrictions on abortion in the Irish Republic. Ten thousand protesters marched through the capital yesterday, chanting “never again”, before holding a minute’s silence and a candle-lit vigil outside Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s offices.
Outrage has swept the country after Mrs Halappanavar’s death in a Galway hospital from blood poisoning following a miscarriage at 17 weeks. Her husband, Praveen, said she deteriorated after being repeatedly refused a termination of her pregnancy, even though her baby was not viable.
Official inquiries are under way into the incident, which has received much international publicity and caused political uproar. The most vexing issue is whether the death was attributable purely to the law – which prohibits abortion except in cases such as Mrs Halappanavar’s – or its interpretation by hospital staff.
It is already clear that the Irish government will have to bow to public opinion. One minister admitted “action in some shape or form” will be taken. Dublin has also been under pressure from the European Court of Human Rights which has handed down a judgment criticising the Republic’s current law on abortion.
India’s ambassador to Ireland, Debashish Chakravarti, met government officials in Dublin on Friday to press for an “independent and transparent” investigation.
The anger was palpable on streets near Galway University hospital. An elderly woman, Fran Hosty, became agitated when asked about the incident. She said: “I think it’s despicable, the Lord between us and all harm, that in 2012 something like that could happen. To let a young, beautiful woman suffer like that, I can’t bear to think about it.”
Continue reading at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/irish-demand-reform-to-abortion-law-8326462.html
