Showing posts tagged ireland
Inquest confirms Indian woman was denied abortion in Ireland Staff at Galway University Hospital have backed up claims by the husband of Savita Halappanavar that she had asked for and was refused an abortion at the hospital just days before she died last October. The Irish Times reports: Halappanavar had been 17 weeks pregnant when she presented at the hospital a week earlier with severe back pain and was found to be miscarrying.Her husband said, following her death, that she had been in pain and repeatedly asked for a medical termination over a three-day period but this was refused as a fetal heartbeat was still present and they were told “this is a Catholic country.”She died in the hospital’s intensive care unit, four days after the fetal heartbeat stopped. Photo: This handout picture from the Irish Times on November 14, 2012, shows Indian national Savita Halappanavar who died after being refused a termination of her pregnancy at a hospital in Galway. (AFP - Getty Images)

Inquest confirms Indian woman was denied abortion in Ireland

Staff at Galway University Hospital have backed up claims by the husband of Savita Halappanavar that she had asked for and was refused an abortion at the hospital just days before she died last October.

The Irish Times reports:

Halappanavar had been 17 weeks pregnant when she presented at the hospital a week earlier with severe back pain and was found to be miscarrying.

Her husband said, following her death, that she had been in pain and repeatedly asked for a medical termination over a three-day period but this was refused as a fetal heartbeat was still present and they were told “this is a Catholic country.”

She died in the hospital’s intensive care unit, four days after the fetal heartbeat stopped.

Photo: This handout picture from the Irish Times on November 14, 2012, shows Indian national Savita Halappanavar who died after being refused a termination of her pregnancy at a hospital in Galway. (AFP - Getty Images)

Ireland set to legalize abortions when woman’s life is at risk

In a move unthinkable even a few years ago, the Irish government is set to introduce legislation permitting abortions in limited circumstances.

The decision follows pressure from the European court of human rights, which ruled that abortions should be allowed in the republic in cases where a woman’s life was at risk, reports the Guardian.

The abortion ban gained attention last month after an Indian woman, Savita Halappanavar, died in Galway university hospital during a miscarriage after she and her husband had repeatedly asked for a termination of her 19-week-old pregnancy.

Her husband, Praveen, alleged that medical staff told them “this is a Catholic country” and that they would not carry out the termination

More from the Guardian here.

Widower of woman who was denied an abortion to sue Ireland

AP: Praveen Halappanavar, the widower of an Indian woman who died in an Irish hospital after she was refused an abortion, plans to sue Ireland’s government in the European Court of Human Rights. His lawyer confirmed the decision.

Halappanavar’s wife, Savita, died Oct. 28 in Ireland, one week after being admitted to a hospital for severe pain amid a miscarriage. Doctors did not perform an abortion while the fetus still had a heartbeat. Savita fell ill after the dead fetus was removed. A coroner ruled she died from blood poisoning.

Ireland’s deputy PM calls to clarify country’s abortion rules after woman’s death Reuters: Ireland’s deputy prime minister has called to clarify the country’s abortion laws after a woman, who was denied a termination, died from septicaemia in an Irish hospital. “I don’t think as a country we should allow a situation where women’s rights are put at risk in this way,” Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament Thursday. Irish law does not specify the circumstances under which the threat to a mother’s life or health is high enough to justify termination. Photo: This handout picture received from the Irish Times on Nov. 14, 2012, shows Indian national Savita Halappanavar who died after being refused a termination of her pregnancy at a hospital in Galway. (via AFP - Getty Images)

Ireland’s deputy PM calls to clarify country’s abortion rules after woman’s death

Reuters: Ireland’s deputy prime minister has called to clarify the country’s abortion laws after a woman, who was denied a termination, died from septicaemia in an Irish hospital.

“I don’t think as a country we should allow a situation where women’s rights are put at risk in this way,” Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament Thursday.

Irish law does not specify the circumstances under which the threat to a mother’s life or health is high enough to justify termination.

Photo: This handout picture received from the Irish Times on Nov. 14, 2012, shows Indian national Savita Halappanavar who died after being refused a termination of her pregnancy at a hospital in Galway. (via AFP - Getty Images)