This past week, an Indian woman living
in Ireland named Savita Halappanavar was denied a life-saving
abortion and died of septicimia as a result. Ireland's laws are very
religion-based, and abortion is outlawed in the Catholic country as a
result – Dr. Halappanavar was denied the abortion because the
fetus' heart was still beating, and fetal death is the only event in
which abortion is legal in Ireland. Indian representatives have
responded to this event by stating that this turn of events was both
a denial of Halappanavar's human rights and a violation of
internation law. Ireland is currently investigating these events, and
India has asked that Ireland keep communications open and share any
and all results and details. Abortions are legal in many
circumstances in India, where spokespeople have stated that they
cannot honestly say they support human rights if they do not support
a mother's choices about her own health and body.
The law in Ireland does actually
violate international law views on abortion, which is that it should
at least be allowed if the mother's life is at risk. India's vested
interest in investigating the case and whether or not the law has
been specifically violated in this instance makes a lot of sense
under the circumstances. Indian and Irish ambassadors have been
speaking and while India's stance on this is fairly aggressive, both
sides are being cordial. Since Dr. Halappanavar was an Indian citizen
living in Ireland, the legal issues here are delicate as she is not
an Irish citizen, so the law could have been unfair to exact upon
her. If the investigation does show that it was the lack of abortion
specifically that was the cause of her death, legal action may be
taken – precedent may end with her family being paid in recompense,
though money is no replacement for a family member. Hopefully this
will also encourage Ireland's government to think critically about
the effects of basing law in religion has on citizens and how
loosening up abortion limitations may help save many lives.
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/from-india-pressure-on-ireland-over-abortion-laws/?ref=freedomandhumanrights
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