The tragic death of Savita Halappanavar from septicaemia after suffering a
miscarriage at University Hospital Galway last October shone the spotlight
on Ireland’s inhumane abortion laws, which are among the most restrictive in
the world.
Abortion is illegal in the Republic except where there is a real and
substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother.
In Savita’s case, staff at the hospital told her husband, as he begged for an induction to end her pregnancy, that Ireland was a “Catholic country” and they could not abort when the foetus was live.
The subsequent delay contributed to Savita’s death.
In Savita’s case, staff at the hospital told her husband, as he begged for an induction to end her pregnancy, that Ireland was a “Catholic country” and they could not abort when the foetus was live.
The subsequent delay contributed to Savita’s death.
For years, Irish women, desperate for a termination, have been coming to the British mainland; each has her own tragic story. Some are carrying foetuses with fatal abnormalities and face a Hobson’s choice: either carry it to term or travel to Liverpool or Birmingham and terminate the pregnancy.
In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights found Ireland in breach and
ordered the Irish Government to legislate for abortion under certain
circumstances. This week and next, the Irish Parliament will debate the
Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013.
The Bill allows for abortion when there is a real and substantial risk to a woman’s life arising from a physical health condition or a threat of suicide. It also puts in place stringent conditions requiring the consent of three doctors, and in the case of a suicide threat, three further psychiatrists as well as the woman’s GP.
The NWCI states: “This legislation will only deal with a very small number of cases and will not change anything for the majority of women in this country. Ireland will still have one of the most restrictive abortion regimes in the world.
It will provide no solution to women who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest, in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities or where there is a risk to the health of the woman. Women in crisis pregnancies will still be forced to travel abroad for abortions.”
Enda Kenny, his government, and even doctors are torn between the strength of public opinion and the Catholic Church. Incredibly, pro-life groups are campaigning against even these most narrow and restrictive reforms in their zeal for an absolutist protection of foetal life.
These groups are well represented on the boards of many hospitals outside Dublin and use their influence to prevent antenatal scans until 29 weeks, at which point it is too late to terminate the pregnancy.
Public opinion is firmly on the side of reform that goes well beyond the current Bill.
According to polls by Ipsos MRBI this year, 84 per cent of the population support abortion where the mother’s life is threatened, including from suicide, and 78 per cent are in favour in cases of rape or abuse.
The Behaviour and Attitudes survey in the Irish Sunday Times also found strong support for abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.
The pressure group Termination for Medical Reasons was formed by women and their partners and spouses who have been forced to travel to the UK to undergo terminations in the saddest of circumstances.
The group has persuaded an independent Irish MP to propose an amendment that would include fatal foetal abnormalities in the Bill.
It is a terrible indictment of the stranglehold a minority of well-financed campaigners have on politics and health in Ireland that the government is under greater pressure to remove the threat of suicide as a legitimate (if virtually inaccessible under the Bill as currently drafted) reason for abortion than it is to include fatal foetal abnormalities, rape and abuse.
This, despite the clear judgment of the Irish population, as evidenced by all the polls over the past year.