Ireland Abortion Refusal Death Sparks Legal Debate

Ireland's tough abortion laws came under fire on Wednesday following the death of an Indian woman who was allegedly refused a termination after doctors told her it was a Catholic country.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers he was awaiting the results of two investigations of the death of Savita Halappanavar, who is originally from India, at University Hospital Galway in western Ireland.

Abortion is illegal in Roman Catholic-dominated Ireland except when it is necessary to save the life of the mother.

Halappanavar, who was 17 weeks pregnant, repeatedly asked the hospital to terminate her pregnancy because she had severe back pain and was miscarrying, her family said.

But staff had told the 31-year-old dentist, a Hindu, that she could not have an abortion because Ireland was a Catholic country and the fetus was still alive, her husband Praveen told the Irish Times.

"Savita was really in agony. She was very upset, but she accepted she was losing the baby," he told the newspaper by telephone from the Karnataka region of southern India.

"When the consultant came on the ward rounds on Monday morning Savita asked if they could not save the baby could they induce to end the pregnancy. The consultant said, ‘As long as there is a fetal heartbeat we can’t do anything.'

"Again on Tuesday morning, the ward rounds and the same discussion. The consultant 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."

She died of septicemia, or blood poisoning, on October 28, a week after she was admitted. The fetus had been removed on October 23 after its heartbeat stopped.

The hospital said in a statement that it had ordered a review into Savita Halappanavar's death but it had not yet started as it was waiting to consult with the Halappanavar family, who are in India for her funeral.

The couple lived in Galway, where 34-year-old Praveen Halappanavar worked as an engineer.

Kenny said the health minister had asked for a report on the circumstances surrounding Halappanavar's death, while investigations had been launched by the hospital and by Ireland's Health Service Executive.

"I think it would be very appropriate that we don't rule anything out here but there are two investigations here," Kenny told lawmakers when the case was raised in parliament.

Protests by pro-choice groups were planned later outside the parliament in Dublin and the Irish embassy in the British capital London.

Ireland's abortion laws have been the subject of debate for years.

Under a 1992 Supreme Court ruling women in Ireland are legally entitled to an abortion when it is necessary to save the life of the mother.

But legislation has never been passed to reflect this.

Health minister James Reilly has promised to introduce legislation during the term of this government, and is awaiting a report from an expert group.

The opposition Sinn Fein party urged the government to act quickly.

"I know there are strongly held views on the issue of medical termination, but the people spoke in referendums and firmly placed the onus on the (parliament) to deal with the issue by means of legislation," leader Gerry Adams said.

A 1982 referendum acknowledged the "right to life of the unborn... with due regard to the life of the mother," while a second in 1992 added an amendment that permitted the right to travel abroad for an abortion.

Rachel Donnelly, a spokeswoman for the group Galway Pro-Choice, said the incident highlighted the need for legal change.

"This was an obstetric emergency which should have been dealt with in a routine manner. Yet Irish doctors are restrained from making obvious medical decisions by a fear of potentially severe consequences," she said.

The European Court of Human Rights condemned Ireland in December 2010 for forcing a pregnant cancer-sufferer, who feared that having a baby would worsen her health, to have an abortion abroad.