About a hundred protesters gathered today (Friday) outside of the Irish embassy over the death of Savita Halappanavar, a thirty one year old Indian dentist, who died after she was refused an abortion in an Irish hospital in the Catholic country. The crowd is accusing Irish authorities of committing "medical murder". When Halappanavar went to the hospital seeking treatment, she repeatedly asked staff at University Hospital in Galway, west Ireland, to terminate her pregnancy because she was miscarrying. Doctors refused her demand, telling her that "this is a Catholic country". Abortion is illegal in Roman Catholic-dominated Ireland except when it is necessary to save the life of the mother. After local politicians in India expressed their concern regarding her death on October 28th, the government was urged to act. Smriti Irani, president of the women's wing of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, was among the protesters outside the embassy and she was allowed in as part of a four-person delegation to meet the ambassador. "The ambassador acknowledged that there is intense pressure (on Ireland) not only from the people of India but globally over Halappanavar's death," Irani told reporters. Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said that "It is extremely sad and unfortunate. Whatever the inquiry does, human loss cannot be compensated," andIndian Communist Party leader Brinda Karat said not treating Halappanavar's condition as a medical emergency was a "crime". Ireland's abortion laws have actually been the subject of debate for years.
The article said that under a 1992 Supreme Court ruling, women in Ireland are legally entitled to an abortion when it is necessary to save the life of the mother. Unfortunately, “legislation has never been passed to reflect this. “ I agree wholeheartedly with Brinda Karat’s calling the untreatment of Halappanavar a crime because the woman was clearly in dire need of the abortion to save her life, so how can a doctor possibly sit there and tell the woman he can’t perform the procedure, when he knows the mother’s life is at risk? Its infuriating! Women should have the right to an abortion regardless of whether their lives are at risk. There are already women dying every minute due to the lack of care after birth. Why add to the numbers? In India alone, there is a maternal death every 10 minutes, according to the United Nations, with the country accounting for about 20 percent of deaths worldwide of women who die during or shortly after childbirth.
http://www.brecorder.com/world/south-asia/91002.html
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