Deputy Prime Minister admits that there is need for “legal clarity” on abortion
The Irish government was on Thursday at the centre of an angry backlash as protests were held to demand relaxation of the country’s strict anti-abortion law following the death of Savita Halappanavar, a young dentist of Indian origin, after she was refused abortion at a government hospital even though her life was in danger.
An estimated 2,000 people demonstrated outside Parliament in Dublin in what was described as the “largest” protest there in recent memory, while hundreds joined candlelit vigils in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway, the city where Savita lived and died.
The Irish embassy in London was picketed amid calls for similar protests outside Irish missions in other European Union countries at the weekend to coincide with a mass rally planned in Dublin for Saturday.
C.V.R. Prasad, an orthopaedic surgeon who visited Savita in the hospital before she died, called for a public inquiry into her death. He criticised the conduct of doctors at University Hospital Galway who refused to perform abortion on grounds that “this is a Catholic country.”
“This should never happen to another woman. Religion and medicine should never mix,” he said.
The hospital has already launched an internal investigation, in addition to a separate inquiry ordered by Ireland’s Health Service, but Dr. Prasad said any probe should be public.
The HSE announced that it was appointing an external investigator to join the inquiry.
There were ill-tempered exchanges in Parliament as the government faced criticism for not legislating on a 1992 court ruling that abortion could be permitted if there was a “real and substantive” risk to the life of the mother. Critics accused successive governments of “political cowardice” in not laying down specific guidelines on abortion.
Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore admitted that there was need for “legal clarity” on abortion. “We need to ensure that in this country we do not have a doubt which arises in a hospital in a set of circumstances which puts a mother’s life at risk.” Last year, the European Court of Human Rights upheld claims of three women that the ban on abortion breached their human rights.
Savita (31) died from septicaemia a week after she was admitted to the hospital with severe back pain. Her husband Praveen Halappanavar said he was certain that his wife would have been alive had the termination been allowed.
This is a really sad thing for the family, because chances are that if the lady was being treated in another country which did not have such laws, she might still be alive. Condolences to the family.
At the same time, those yelling in this forum against the Catholic Irish government need to realise that this is not a simple issue, and we need to wait for the investigation and the debate before deciding what is to be done. Emotionally we as Indians might feel aggrieved, but here's a point that we first might want to ponder before throwing our stones -Ireland has an almost infinitely better record of maternal health care, only 6 deaths per 100,000 against India's 200 deaths per 100,000. Hence, let's first set our own house in order before shouting at them.
This is not even counting those who mercilessly get killed in India either through infanticide, selective (don't want girls) abortion, honour killings, etc.
Finally, law is law and it needs to be followed.
If the same 'medical condition' has happened to an Irish woman, what decision the doctors / hospital would have taken ? Is it not the professional ethics more important than religious / government laws ? What is the paramount 'Dharma' of the medical profession ? Saving human lives or other petty things ?
These are the broader questions for which answers are to be searched.
First, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family of Savita Halappanavar. May they have the strength to bear their great loss at this time.
Now, may I turn to the Indian media and its comments, also the comments of persons close to the Indian Embassy in Dublin, Ireland. Words such as "Ireland murders Indian woman" and "barbaric Ireland" have apparently been used. It ill behoves the government and people of India to cast aspersions upon Ireland, a country with a wonderful record of safety in childbirth, when in India each year there is an average of 1,000 cases of so-called "honour killings". Which is worse - the tragic mishap in Ireland, or the willful murder of 1,000 innocent young women in India each year in the name of "honour", with the Indian government apparently looking the other way in the name of "culture"?
A major part of this issue is that it only affects the lives of women and the Catholic Chuch's policies are only set by men. The women are expendable for some reason, while the fetuses are not.
@Shreeniwas,
Calm down friend. Please stop blaming a particular religion for all the problems caused by human ignorance and stupidity. People like you are nothing different from the people who caused this tragedy in the name of religion.
Wow where are the moderators! The forum has turned into one for
bashing religions.
One C.V.R. Prasad says that religion and medicine shouldn't mix, and
this spawns of a range of comments involving various religions.
Firstly, in this case it was the law of the country and not religion
that dictated that the abortion shouldn't have been performed.
Some comments imply that since she was not a Catholic the law
shouldn't apply to her. Does this mean we have different laws for
different religions? It doesn't matter what the religion is, in any
case abortion should have been performed here to save the life of the
mother.
No one seems to focus on the main issue: the government's reluctance
to have set the guidlines.
RIP Savitha
Whenever Religion & Science mixes or meets, this is the result
But in Bharat, Dharma & ViGYAAN where always one & the same, there
were different rules for different situations, i.e, we could come out
of these easily.
What's required now is careful introspection & appraisal of the
existing laws. /
What happened to Savita is sad indeed and truly deplorable.
However the outrage expressed in India is definitely comical especially given the
numerous atrocities committed against women in our country, not to mention the
killing of girl child, rapes that happen anywhere/everywhere, "suicides" by housewives-
to name just a few. It's hard to believe that men in our country care so much for
womens' rights, health and safety. I think people simply have found a reason to come
down heavily upon the Roman Catholic religion cause it satisfies their vanity to
demonise a foreign religion and maybe make them feel more virtuous.
This seems to be the case of professional misjudgment and/or negligence on the part of the concerned doctor and hospital. Catholic Church allows medical termination of unborn child to save the mother, if that is the only option left. The decision about medical termination should be taken by the professionally qualified doctors, and the Church relies on their professional judgment. This unfortunate incident does not call for legalizing abortion which is actually a license to kill the unborn child at will. Nobody has the right to kill the unborn child including the carrying mother, because the unborn is a new individual life and it has the right to live like any other individual. There will be no humanity left in the society if abortion allowed, other than the rarest of rare case where the mother’s life may extinct.
Today we find that means have become more important than ends. Laws
are for the people not the people are for laws. People (doctors) who
argued to save the life of a child had risked a life, a resource, a
beautiful creature of god. Is it justified? No, it can't be.The
irrational arguements can satisfy them but is not beneficial for
mankind. Need is there to bring rationality in laws and regulations
all over the world. Our country is no exception, where people had
stopped to help the victim of accident due to police laww, but after
stepping in of supreme court that police will not trouble people who
help those victims, some ray of hope is in sight. My point is that the
governments why dont take initiative and make laws contemporary and
rational?
If it happened in India no one would have cared about this....
any religion is not greater than the humanity.governments and the people
must understand this
In 1992, after a suicidal 14-year-old Irish girl, identified only as
“X”, successfully sued the Irish government after she was denied a
termination, having been raped by a neighbour, Ireland’s Supreme Court
stated that abortion was permissible in the case of a “real and
substantive risk” to the mother’s life.
Yet politicians have been so pusillanimous when it comes to such a
controversial matter that Irish law still crucially lacks the
legislative detail to give medical practitioners clear, concise
guidelines.
I believe that unborn life is worth fighting for – but not to the
exclusion of reason. Ethical principles are important, but not at the
expense of morality. Religiosity should be respected – but as Savita
Halappanavar discovered to her cost, it comes a very poor second to
humanity.
If Catholics really are pro life they shouldn't eat meat, hunt and never go to war. There
has even been a Pope who went to war. Priests often bless soldiers before they go to
battle! Catholics have committed several genocides. Is this selective kindness for
human fetus a way to increase the number of catholics? Their preaching against
condoms have resulted in rapid increase in the number HIV-AIDS infections. Only thing
that empowers a poor woman is contraception, a control over her reproductive system,
it is just that they target. Are they out to disempower women? In 21st century we need
to understand how and why religions are designed.
Justifiably demos going on in Ireland. Because it is a democracy you
can question. Could you do the same in muslim theocratic countries where
there are many abominable practices are there contrary to world opinion
& humanistic values. No Never.
I do not think that the catholic church is against abortion when the mother's life is at risk. In fact this is the only condition for which medical termination of pregnancy is permitted much the same way as divorce is allowed only at the instance proven adultery.
The incident in Ireland must have happened either due to ignorance or wrong interpretation of law.
Someone has to die, to change the law, to sensitize people/politician's
that something's wrong. It is across the globe. Why was this not an news
item even before she died? she was in hospital for three days before she
died. The news rooms across the globe wait to see someone die.
Fellow readers and countrymen,
I applaud your spirit on this issue of abortion. However, where was
all this compassion and determination to end this law before Savita
died. First of all, Ireland is not the only country where abortion is
illegal, even in the US & Canada it is illegal. Abortion should not be
eliminated rather granted to women on certain conditions such as:
1. Pregnant Rape victims
2. Pregnant women with complicaitons from fetus that put the mother's
life in jeopardy such as, Savita.Apart from that, abortion is still a
legitimate practice as long as it is not misused by irresponsible
citizens who have children without planning.In Savita's case, what the
Irish hospital did was illegitimate, primarily because Savita was a
Hindu, not a Catholic, so the law shouldn't have been applied to her
at all.In all, the world in general needs to stop with the negativity
towards women, because without them there will be no future generation
to take our places.
A sad case of religious dogma taking the life of a young woman of a different religion than Catholic christianity in far off Ireland. One thought we in India are still living in dark ages and having to deal with archaic reprehensible superstitions which supercede the laws of the land. But it is shocking that a enlightened democracy in the West should not have been alive to the need to save a life in danger and refused to deliver medical relief in the hour of need. Human values should rule supreme irrespective of faith throughout the world.
Sir/Madam,
It was with great sadness that we learned of the tragedy that has befallen the Halappanavaar family.
For my own part I would like to know what went wrong, in the belief that lessons will be beneficial to all women who may in future be faced with circumstances surrounding Savita and her unborn child. What also me is the alacrity with which this the ‘Pro-Life’ (so called) and the ‘Pro-Choice’ (so called), have managed to hang their respective hats on this unfortunate case. These opposing sides have, I believe, jumped the gun. Let the facts, medical, legal and ethical be brought into the public domain but at the same time let us all respect the privacy and dignity of the grieving family. When - and only when, the contextual facts become known should we engage in a point-scoring match conducted in a vacuum.
Ireland is a post-christian society. It is 'culturally catholic' but the WHO statistics will show that maternal mortality is a rarity. May Savita rest in peace.
Very sad to hear about her death. Religion and Medicine are two things and we should not mix and match. Human life is more important than religion. May God give peace and strength to her family.
Avoidable loss of life...when will humans learn to live without the superstition of
religion....
Irrespective of religion and laws, doctors have the paramount duty to save the life of any patient that comes to them.
Ireland Prime Minister Enda Kenny and responsible Irish lawmakers should be ashamed of this horrific end for a pregnant woman seeking medical help but end up losing her life. This should be a stark reminder to address outdated thinking based on misguided emphasis. Our prayers go to Savita's family.
It is appalling that the Political Parties in many countries divide
their people based on certain outdated conservative beliefs for their
own benefit. They know that they are taking their countries backward
by nurturing such thoughts in people.Some conservatives become
terrorists also on this issue.It is an easy option to gain power by
corrupting the minds of people who are vulnerable. Even in the U.S.
Presidential elections, it is a big issue. Ireland should hold a
public referendum on the abortion issue and suitably amend the laws of
the land.None should campaign either for (or) against the referendum.
Let the people think through and decide on their own.
Doctors at University Hospital Galway refused to perform abortion on
grounds that “this is a Catholic country.”
& we say European are the most modern countries.
difference between us and them...
we don't even care to protest/join the movement for national interest even when someone like an aged Anna is ready to fast for the interest of the country.
they(people) care for even if their law hurts an outsider...they want to change it ... they protest to change it ... when will we learn ...?
If many Republicans in the USA had their choice, this would be the situation in America as well.
Whatever may be their laws, if they permit killing of a human
being, it amounts to murder of the first degree. The Indian Govt
should initiate a legal battle against the hospital authorities in
India court under IPC act. US govt would have done that. Mere
lodging protest with Irish Govt. will not do.
Shocking how the Church has such power over the government! If this had happened to the "Royalty" I wonder if they would have held back the abortion procedure.
My heart felt condolences to the grieved family , very sorry that their
life got entangled and shattered in this know all western attitude. may be we should look at how many Asian population died or suffered both in UK and Ireland due to medical causes ,then
such cases should be probed to see if there are any negligence.
Deepest condolence to Kavitha s family,she was the victim of the
irrational people of this modern world, may god bless her.From Malaysia.
How ridiculous is it that advance countries approach this situation in an more uneducated manner than third world countries? The family should sue the hell out the hospital and staff. This is cleary a situation where a decision was not made based on facts. The Western world accusses third world countries of fundamentalism. It seems the same is being practised there and led to a loss of a life.
Well said ... Religion and medicine should not mix .Another thing which should not mix with religion is Politics
I really condole the situation. However, who is at present concerned
about the millions being buried in the womb of own mothers. For the
Catholic Church, the life is life, regardless of mother or child. It
is a gift of God. According to its teaching, if there is a dilemma
occurring trying to save the life of the mother, if it indirectly
leads to the death of the child. But not for the sake of pleasure of
man. I am really pity the situation. Nevertheless I would say these
news are being manipulated by the international abortion mafia, who
get paid for the every effort they make. So please not only raise your
voice for the mothers but also for the innocent, angelic children, who
do not have a voice of their own.
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