Blog 12: Irish women dies from denial of abortion

Savita Halappanavar, 31, was denied the opportunity to receive an abortion which could have saved her life.  The refusal of the procedure buy the hospital in Ireland was a huge violation of her rights as she met the requirements set by the country to receive the procedure legally.  Abortion is still illegal in Ireland, except when the life of the mother is in danger.  It is punishable by law with up to life in prison for practicing this procedure.  Halappanavar was 17 weeks pregnant and died from septicemia at the hospital where she was refused.  She was attending the local university while pregnant when she began to miscarry, several days later she died from blood poisoning.  There are currently 3 investigations of her being conducted by the national Health Service Executive (HSE), the state Coroner’s office, and the hospital itself.  The death of Halappanavar is hoping to move the Irish government in the direction to grant the rights of women to legally and carefully receive and abortion without risking their lives. 

In 1992, the Irish Supreme Court ruled that a pregnant woman could have an abortion only if having the baby would be life threatening, but successive government has failed to submit adequate guidelines to permit women to move forward with the procedure legally.  The restrictive laws have lead to many women facing life or death situations simply from becoming pregnant.  The press from the death of Halappanavar has somewhat forced the Irish government to move quicker in their efforts to protect women and their rights.

The misstep of the hospitals and their staff should hold them fully responsible for the death of this young woman.  They have the training and the knowledge to know that her life was in jeopardy from continuous carrying of her child.  I do, however, understand their hesitance with going forward with the procedure.  Because it is not yet 100% legal they were fearful of spending the rest of their lives in prison.  This is where the government needs to step up and finish what they started in regards to the legislation on the rights of an abortion.  This young lady had a promising future taken away from her all because of late legislation that could have saved her life.

Here is the link to the original article:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/human-rights-watch/ireland-sanitas-death-sho_b_2139512.html