Savita Halappanavar (31), a dentist, presented with back pain at the hospital on October 21st, was found to be miscarrying, and died of septicaemia a week later.
Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar (34), an engineer at Boston Scientific in Galway, says she asked several times over a three-day period that the pregnancy be terminated. He says that, having been told she was miscarrying, and after one day in severe pain, Ms Halappanavar asked for a medical termination.
This was refused, he says, because the foetal heartbeat was still present and they were told, “this is a Catholic country”.
She spent a further 2½ days “in agony” until the foetal heartbeat stopped.
The dead foetus was removed and Savita was taken to the high dependency unit and then the intensive care unit, where she died of septicaemia on the 28th.
This is appalling and barbaric - not to mention needless. As The Guardian makes clear, abortion is actually legal in Ireland to save a mother's life. But Ireland is so priest-ridden that its doctors would rather let their patients die than fulfil their duty as medical professionals.
Hopefully, this will lead to change. Hopefully, there will be no more women like Savita Halappanavar condemned to death by backwards superstition in Ireland.