Hundreds of people took to the streets in Dublin today to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Savita Halappanavar and call for abortion law reforms.
Ms Savita, a dentist died from sepsis in Galway in 2012 while miscarrying after her request for an abortion was turned down on legal grounds.
Her death reignited calls to repeal the eighth amendment to Ireland’s constitution, which largely prevented legal access to abortion.
Director of the National Women’s Council Orla O’Connor said that Savita’s death was a “turning point in Ireland as the public clearly saw the harms and risk to women’s lives because of the eighth amendment”.
Savita, died in Hospital Galway while she was 17 weeks pregnant – the first direct maternal death in the hospital in 16 years.Doctors on the ward believed that she was in the middle of a miscarriage or about to miscarry but when Savita and her husband Praveen asked about using medication to induce the miscarriage, as Savita was experiencing pain and bleeding and was at risk of infection and sepsis, they were advised that doctors’ hands were “tied” under Irish law as long as there was a foetal heartbeat.
About 300 people braved poor weather at times to remember Ms Halappanavar, demand reform and highlight issues around abuse of women and gender rights.
National Women’s Council director Orla O’Connor said it was important to remember Ms Halappanavar’s story and how her outcomes could have been very different without a ban on abortion.
“It is important we remember Savita Halappanavar. She was 31-years-old, a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. It was so sad and tragic and such an unnecessary death, a huge loss to her family and friends. That is part of the reason people are out here, to remember and say we will never forget her,” she said.
Ms O’Connor said she would like to see on ongoing review of Ireland’s abortion laws by the Department of Health draw on the experiences of women because “our legislation is not good enough”.
Irish abortion laws mean a medical termination of a pregnancy is available up to 12 weeks but is only allowed thereafter if there is a serious threat to the life or health of the mother, or where two clinicians agree there is a fatal foetal abnormality likely to lead to the death of the foetus before or within 28 days of birth. There is also a mandatory three-day wait between a woman asking for an abortion under 12 weeks and accessing one.
Ms O’Connor said these measures need to be addressed and expressed concern at the potential criminalisation of doctors who agree to terminate a pregnancy that may have survived longer than 28 days. She also said migrants and people in rural areas were less likely to be able to access abortion services.
“Put abortion like any other medical procedure, in that it should be between a woman and her doctor,” she added.
A crowd had gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin shortly after 1pm before marching up O’Connell Street.
When passing the GPO they chanted in solidarity with a group gathered at the bottom of the Spire holding a separate demonstration calling out the treatment of women in Iran.
The march crossed O’Connell Bridge and made its way through Temple Bar before stopping by the Repeal mural at the Project Arts Centre. Here, campaigners reiterated an earlier call for a permanent memorial to be erected in honour of Ms Halappanavar.
An artwork of her image was held in front of the Repeal mural emblazoned with the words “never again” as Roopesh Panicker, a member of the Indian-Irish community, read a poem in Hindi.
A rough translation included the lines: “You lived a short life but secured a place in many hearts, your life will not go in vain, people will keep your memories alive and always remember you, to them you are still alive.”
Marchers held a moment of silence before leaving Temple Bar and gathering at City Hall, near Dublin Castle.
Former master of the National Maternity Hospital Dr Peter Boylan said it would be an “insult to the memory of Savita” if the new maternity hospital plans went ahead in their current guise, despite being approved by the Government last May.
Politicians and medics previously raised concerns a Catholic ethos would influence healthcare decisions at the new hospital because the land where it is due to be built was once owned by the Religious Sisters of Charity.
The order says it will have no say in the running of the hospital.
“Savita died as a direct result of the Eighth Amendment, there is no doubt about that,” Dr Boylan added.
“Religious ethos is still very dominant in our hospitals.”
Dr Boylan said he was also concerned about the potential criminalisation of medics. He said current abortion laws need “tweaking”.
“The three-day waiting period is totally unnecessary. It is infantilising of women who turn up to their GP looking for a termination early in pregnancy.
“The fact it is a criminal offence to make a mistake on the foetal abnormality front, that needs to be removed.”
Former TD Ruth Coppinger, a member of the Rosa socialist feminist movement, said people marched in “sadness, solidarity and anger” at what happened to her and other women around the globe.
“People saw that could have been me, my sister, my daughter, my wife. Savita was not the first but the first know victim of the Eighth Amendments, a church-state law designed to control women and their rights.
“We should campaign from this march for a permanent memorial to say never again.”
Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Eilis Mulroy, however, said it was “unfair and disingenuous” for the tenth anniversary of Ms Halappanavar’s death to see calls for “an even more extreme expansion of the Irish abortion law”.
“Whilst her tragic death was the result of medical oversight, it was not caused by the Eighth Amendment as campaigners for abortion have incessantly claimed,” she said.
“Mismanaged sepsis was the cause of Savita’s death, as backed up by several independent reports, and not the denial of an abortion. “Ten years on from her death, it is highly inappropriate for campaigners and pro-abortion politicians to continue leaning on myths and mistruths to push for a radical expansion of Ireland’s already extreme abortion law.”
Source: Independent.ie