Outrage and anger over the death of a 31-year-old dentist from India in a Galway hospital after the doctors there refused to abort her non-viable fetus has spread world wide.
The tragic case of Savita Halappanavar who died in a Galway hospital from sepsis has brought Ireland’s inaction on abortion law into a glaring international light.
The anger is most severely felt in her home country. On Thursday the India Times headline read, “Ireland murders pregnant Indian dentist”.
Anger has also been expressed in Ireland and around the world as people gathered for candlelit vigils, paying their respects to Savita. On Saturday another large gathering is planned in Dublin city centre.
Meanwhile, an Indian doctor in Ireland says euthanasia instead of abortion is practiced in Ireland. Dr CVR Prasad, an orthopedic surgeon in Ireland, told the Times of India that, “Termination is only postponed to after the birth. Women have to deliver a live baby, even if it is deformed, severely handicapped or with a congenital disorder. The baby may survive for a few years. It's kept in paediatric hospitals where demand-feed happens which means the baby is fed only if it cries or asks for food. Many babies die of starvation. This is passive euthanasia."
Read more news on the issue of abortion in Ireland here
Dr Prasad stated Dr Savita's case clearly reflects what happens when religion influences medical practice.
Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister has promised that 20 years late, the Irish government will introduce guidelines on Irish law with regard to abortion.
Savita’s mother appeared on several Indian television stations saying, “In an attempt to save a four-month-old fetus they killed my… daughter. How is that fair you tell me?" She added, “How many more cases will there be?”
Her daughter was 17-weeks pregnant when she presented in hospital suffering a miscarriage. The Mayo-based dentist was told that her baby still had a heartbeat and therefore under current Irish law the doctors could not abort the fetus.
Two days later, when the fetus’ heart stopped, Savita was immediately operated on. She died in intensive care from blood poisoning.
Speaking in Ireland’s parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore confirmed that he and Enda Kenny would receive copies of the expert reports being carried out into Savita’s death by the Galway hospital and the Health Service Executive.
He said now was the right time to introduce guidelines on abortion to Ireland. This comes 20 years after the “X case”. This case involving a 14-year-old rape victim who was allowed to travel to the UK to terminate her pregnancy. In the case, the Supreme Court had ruled in favor and in so doing called on the government to legislate towards this. No government ever tackled the issue.
Gilmore said, “We all need to be clear on this issue. It is 20 years since the Supreme Court made its finding in the X case. It is time to bring legal clarity to the issue. It was to that end that we set up the expert group and we will now deal with the recommendations in the report made to us.”
Gilmore, leader of the Labour Party, stressed that for the past 25 years he has been campaigning for abortion reform.
He said, “Although we will not know the full details until the investigation has been completed, we have heard what Savita's husband said yesterday and as legislators we have a duty and responsibility to respond, act and deal with the issue."
He added, "I do not think we, as a country, should allow a situation where women's lives are put at risk in this way. We must deal with the issue and bring legal clarity to it."
The Indian ambassador to Ireland, Debashish Chakravarti, said his embassy was monitoring developments.
"We deeply regret that this lady died in the circumstances that she did and, of course, the death of any Indian national is a source of concern to us, I suppose," he said.
"Steps should be taken so that it doesn't happen to any other Indian citizen."
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.EamonnDublin | Nov 29, 2012, 12:38 PM EST
"Eiriamach" - Just a throwback to my growing up in Dublin. We always called those little annoying things that irritate you by their proximity on a summer's evening, "midgets". I still do. Force of habit. Read that whatever way you want!!
eiriamach | Nov 26, 2012, 07:26 PM EST
Eamonn writes, "he is just a little annoyance to be swatted like a midget. Éamonn, Dublin." Was this use of the word "midget" just a Freudian slip for "midge," or does Eamonn enjoy beating up on little people? Be careful, midgets can be short on tolerance for bullying, and female midges bite.
howareya | Nov 19, 2012, 12:03 PM EST
alisaann...read my lips....the Catholic Church allows termination of the pregnancy if the mother's life is in danger.....it was not religion that killed this woman but the misjudgement of the doctors in that hospital. They are the ones that should answer for her death.
howareya | Nov 19, 2012, 11:33 AM EST
@irelandnorth, your concluding fact, fact #5 is the most correct, and Irish Central as it exists today is that neo-liberal, agenda driven, fake news agency.
IrelandNorth | Nov 19, 2012, 07:06 AM EST
Fact #1. "Ireland didn't murder pregnant dentist" since a country can't murder anyone, and murder infers intent. It's regrettable that a country which shares the same colour national flag (if not exact design) rushes to judgement). Fact# 2. This Indian mother-to-be could have had an abortion under the one extraordinary excusing circumstances of the constitution as it stands (to protect the right to life of the mother). The fact that she wasn't may at best indicate a genuine clinical diagnosis. Or at worst, a physician who may have been over indentified with their religion. Fact#3. An unintended consequence of The Good Friday Adgreement (GFA), 1997 entitled anyone born in the Island of Ireland to automatic citizenship of Ireland, (and consequentially the European Union (EU)) for the child and their parents or guardians, whcih led to certain administrative difficulties. Fact # 4. This unfortunate woman could have been referred on to the Marie Stopes Clinic in Belfast, if in the latter case above. Fact # 5. As stated below, people with agendas are using this tragic family case to further their own neo-liberal agendas - which is unethical in my estimation!
Thomas84 | Nov 18, 2012, 05:41 PM EST
Im Irish and i want the christians out of my country. To be honest if that offends you then you dont actually understand what a christian is and if that offends you, you are a moron.
EamonnDublin | Nov 18, 2012, 01:43 PM EST
"RedBranch" - Please accept my apologies for my comment to you, below. I was annoyed with all of the anti-Irish, anti-Catholic rubbish ranting. Your comment is totally inoffensive and I reacted wrongly. Best Wishes, Éamonn, Dublin.
EamonnDublin | Nov 18, 2012, 11:39 AM EST
Thank you, "RedBranch", for that ever so cerebral input into this debate. Now go back to sleep. Éamonn, Dublin.
RedBranch | Nov 18, 2012, 10:29 AM EST
Paddy Power says 3 to 1 odds on abortion on demand up to 30 weeks by 2016!
EamonnDublin | Nov 18, 2012, 07:05 AM EST
I have just now emailed the Indian ambassador to Ireland, here in Dublin, as follows - Dear Ambassador,I note that the Irish ambassador to India has been summoned, in order to account for the tragic death of an Indian national in Ireland under circumstances of a dangerous childbirth situation. Might I say that I am most intrigued that a nation, which turns a blind eye to the callous and INTENTIONAL murder of an average of 1,000 innocent young women EVERY YEAR, should seek to call another sovereign nation to account for an accidental death. These murders in India are committed in the name of "family honour", even most disgustingly described as "honour killings" and they are NOT accidental, but are, indeed murders most foul. Would not your authorities be far better employed at seeking to rectify the above - also trying to improve the death in chilldbirth ratio to somewhere even approaching Ireland's almost unsurpassed record in this field? I understand that 20,000 Indian women die in your country every year during childbirth. Twenty thousand!!! Many of your own countrywomen arrive on our shores, already pregnant, every year in order to have their babies here and to live here. We welcome them and they enjoy living amongst us. Is this the thanks we get - one single accidental death and your government makes an international diplomatic scene out of it? A little reflection on India's part would not go amiss. Yours sincerely, (I supplied my full name)
Ron | Nov 18, 2012, 01:23 AM EST
Ridiculous claims from the Times of India. This is similar to the attack they6 made on Australian 'racism' because a few Indian students were amongst the usual nightly victims of street assault in Australian cities. Young people working in vulnerable areas late at night in taxi driving, 24/7s, petrol stations or restaurants are frequently mugged whether Indian or Aussies. The Indian right-wing press turned it all into a major 'anti-Indian' racism attack. Total rabble-rousing rubbish. Several young Irish lads have become victims too in recent years. Does that mean we're anti-Irish? Pure crap!
Gearoid4 | Nov 18, 2012, 12:18 AM EST
The current clamor to introduce legislation as a result of the terrible tragic death of the young pregnant woman in Galway hospital, is being orchestrated by certain pro-choice(code for pro-abortion) groups. Irish P.M. Enda Kenny is showing prudential judgement in advising that one should not rush the decision concerning the introduction of any law in this contentious area. The Republic of Ireland must not be railroaded into enacting legislation which will eventually facilitate abortion-on-demand, as has happened in the UK.
alisaann | Nov 17, 2012, 08:04 PM EST
Murph46: will you PLEASE drop the topic of those 4 deaths, when commenting on THIS STORY.....this young woman lost her life, because the religious doctors DIDN'T or DOESN'T adhear to "DO NO HARM".....they should have tried to SAVE the mother's life....forget the fetus....she MIGHT have been able to have MORE babies, if she was allowed to LIVE. alisa
alisaann | Nov 17, 2012, 07:53 PM EST
she WAS MURDERED, in the name of RELIGION...she could have possibly been SAVED, had they abored her pregnancy...this is WHY i want NO PART IN RELIGION....IT BRAIN WAWASHES PEOPLE. ALISA
EamonnDublin | Nov 17, 2012, 03:05 PM EST
"Hermittalker", There's no point in trying to communicate with "EiriAmach" - he simply decides what he would like you to have said in order for him to respond to it. Then he "replies" to his own rubbish, but he claims that it is you who wrote the rubbish. As far as he is concerned, we in Ireland should all hang our heads in shame because we are Barbarians. He ignores the fact that we have a superb record in childbirth care and safety and he also libels the wonderful doctors and nurses who are so dedicated to their profession. Don't waste your time on him - he is just a little annoyance to be swatted like a midget. Éamonn, Dublin.
WoundedKnee | Nov 17, 2012, 01:15 PM EST
hermittalker--You should also have mentioned the Indian practice of forcing a widow to lie down on the funeral pyre of her late husband, thus submitting to being burnt to death. These folks are really in a position to give lectures to Ireland and the rest of the civilized world. Good work for contacting that Indian Ambassador--how about sharing this guy's e-mail with the rest of us? I'd like to ask him when they're going to take the human sh1t (and I'm not speaking metaphorically) out off the Ganges river and off the sidewalks of Bombay and Calcutta.
pilib04 | Nov 17, 2012, 12:22 PM EST
From the Irish Times November 17: Sinn Féin is to bring forward a Dáil motion in Private Members’ time next week demanding that the Government “immediately introduce legislation to give effect to the 1992 judgment of the Supreme Court (Cúirt Uachtarach na hÉireann) in the X case”. The Sinn Féin motion calls on the Government to “immediately publish the report of the expert group” and to “immediately introduce legislation to give effect to the 1992 judgment of the Supreme Court in the X case, to protect pregnant women where their lives are in real danger and to give legal certainty to medical professionals”. Now, that is leadership. Why have the other parties been fumbling about with this. Kenny wants to "study" the issue. Labour says there will be "guidelines" but I wonder if Gilmore has spoken with Enda Kenny.
pilib04 | Nov 17, 2012, 09:39 AM EST
All deaths are tragic, I wish IC would have had as much outrage for four murdered Americans including an ambassador in Lybia, but politics is politics, all men are created equal some are just more equal than others.
eiriamach | Nov 17, 2012, 09:27 AM EST
hermitTalker, a tragic abuse of human rights has occurred in the otherwise civilized country of Ireland. This case is not about India! What happens in India may also often be tragic, but it is irrelevant to Savita's death in IRELAND. Portia's right--there have been many babies born with severe deformities when Irish hospitals refuse abortions and then keep the babies on life support to live out their brief lives of agony (and guilt and anguish for their parents) with no hope of ever functioning physically or mentally within human families. Placing the life of a fetus, one that is doomed only to suffer if carried to term, before the life of a pregnant woman and the welfare of her family is a barbaric practice that violates Mosaic law. If the shame induced by this news is what it take to change the law, then let it be.
hermitTalker | Nov 17, 2012, 08:40 AM EST
I e-mailed India's Ambassador to Ireland, and asked the assistant PM, An Tanaiste) who is also Foreign Minister to ask him about the wholesale denial of human rights by female abortions in the Beed District of India. The USA and UK have legal abortions, Ireland none except to save the mother's life in accord with medical national guidelines yet IRELAND has very few maternal deaths, I mean very few, check the stats. there may be need for a law to clarify the danger of death, but watch the "health" Snake, "suicidal thoughts" climbing up the toilet stool, in the famous uRBAN myth, to bite Ireland in the butt, and destroy our national record for safest place for women in Europe. Portia; you are not rational with your logic and sense of charity and justice -get a second opinion. "urban" above cannot fix it.
AlunPalmer | Nov 17, 2012, 04:34 AM EST
The protests are justified, and inevitable
Kilsally | Nov 16, 2012, 02:48 PM EST
Abortion in the Republic and Northern Ireland is allowed in the instances where it is required to save the mothers life so it seems to me that the doctors called this
kilkeekbt | Nov 16, 2012, 02:31 PM EST
I think that everyone should wait for an investigation to be completed before becoming outraged. We only have the word of one grieving man. Before she moved to Ireland should she not have investigated the laws? She should have known she would have to follow Ireland's rules. When in Rome do as the Romans do!
Irishphotograph | Nov 16, 2012, 02:00 PM EST
Wow! is rainbow hateful. I am not a Roman Catholic myself but as a Christian and Im sure Roman Catholics would agree an abortion should have been carried out. And yes! all people are sinners when they stand before the Ten Commandments but Jesus became Sin so we may be sinless. That goes for all those who want an eternal life in the next life in Heaven. JOHN 3:7 JOHN 3:16 JOHN 3:36
rainbowbrew | Nov 16, 2012, 01:41 PM EST
The catholics strike again. They wanted my mother to die as well. She had a bad pregnancy and the catholics of course the catholics called her a sinner for her whole life. Catholics send hateful messages out and I am now convinced that they see women as baby makers and kitchs cleaners.
Irishphotograph | Nov 16, 2012, 01:36 PM EST
Everyday Indian Christians are put to death, beaten, raped, robbed by Indian Hindus because the victims only crime in their eyes is that theyre Christians. True story! Google Persecuted Church and look for the cases in India.
Paradigm | Nov 16, 2012, 12:37 PM EST
A tragic story and one feels sad about the circumstances but isn't it typical of "anything goes" moralists that theyimmediately blame the circumstances on Ireland's (North & South) attempt to respect the rights of unborn children rather than on a fairly obvious medical and communication misjudgment.
fusciacork | Nov 16, 2012, 12:14 PM EST
Let's not all jump on the bandwagon before we know the real causes of the tragic death of this lady. Remember Ireland is in the top 3 countries world wide as the safest place for a woman to deliver a baby. On average one pregnant woman dies of sepsis every month in Britain where abortion is available. So what ever will emerge from an independent enquiry in this most tragic of cases, ruling that needs to be done by the Irish government following on from the X case should not be done as a knee jerk reaction to this awful situation. I say let's wait and hear all the facts before we apportion blame.
bobby | Nov 16, 2012, 11:33 AM EST
This is a Tragic story, but the hypocrisy in the people in that video. Tens of millions of people in India live in slums. Thousands of women living in these slums die every year giving birth in shacks. Nearly two million children under five die every year in India – one every 15 seconds – the highest number anywhere in the world. More than half die in the month after birth and 400,000 in their first 24 hours.
jimod4343 | Nov 16, 2012, 11:06 AM EST
@Portia777. What the hell are you talking about?
Murph46 | Nov 16, 2012, 09:52 AM EST
However unfortunate her death,it pales in comparison to the death of 4 who clearly asked for help in Benghazi but were reused by their government!
Murph46 | Nov 16, 2012, 09:20 AM EST
Women have to deliver a live baby, even if it is deformed, severely handicapped or with a congenital disorder" Of course- the live baby born through her waters- admiralty law- is worth a fortune on the stock exchange through use of the birth cert- The Vatican being the trustee. Gosh you did not think Rome cared about the mother or baby did you? She is merely a breeder in their sacred texts.