Protests Erupt Over Woman Who Died After Being Denied Abortion
Savita Halappanavar died after an Irish hospital refused to give her an abortion; following her death, thousands of protestors took to the streets.
1. On Wednesday, a woman named Savita Halappanavar died in an Irish hospital following a miscarriage.
She’d been admitted to University Hospital Galway, when she was 17 weeks pregnant, in severe pain, and was quickly found to be miscarrying. After three days, she died of septicemia, or blood poisoning, which might have been avoided if the fetus had been aborted immediately. Savita was denied the procedure, according to The Telegraph, because her doctors could still hear the fetus’s heartbeat. “This is a Catholic country,” she was reportedly told, although Savita was neither Catholic nor Irish (she was Indian and a Hindu). She was 31 years old.
2. Thousands of people attended a candelight vigil in her honor outside the Irish parliament.
The vigil served as a protest against Ireland’s vague abortion laws; although the constitution bans abortions outright, in 1992 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing it when the woman’s life is in danger. However, the law was never changed.
6. Protesters also demonstrated outside University Hospital Galway, which had refused the abortion.
7. The Irish health authority has since launched an inquiry, and the government has pledged to clarify the laws.
According to Reuters, Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore said before parliament, “I don’t think as a country we should allow a situation where women’s rights are put at risk in this way.”
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- Maplesweetie thinks Protests Erupt Over Woman Who Died Af... is Win & OMG
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Swagasaurus Rex 6 months agoThankfully, our politicians that we know of (Akin, etc.,) whose ideas would have lead to these situations, were thoroughly rejected and kicked out. I hope they do the same.
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- mrsbliss thinks Protests Erupt Over Woman Who Died Af... is OMG
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marys27 6 months agoThis is SO frustrating. Being pro-life in this instance is just an excuse for their malpractice. They prevented her, and her body from completing the natural (albeit horrid) procedure of miscarrying. The woman came in and her body was already going through a horrible process of expelling the pregnancy - and what did they do? They sat back and watched while she died in agony. They completely provided insufficient care before and after the fetus had miscarriaged.
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- 2themaxe Protests Erupt Over Woman Who Died Af... and thinks it’s OMG
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Ali Wherewithall 6 months agoDevastating. And heartwarming to see so much outrage for her. Go ladies of Ireland Go!!!!!
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- jessicaj12 Protests Erupt Over Woman Who Died Af... and thinks it’s Fail
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ImALoserBaby 6 months agowell i’m pretty ignorant of the laws of the land of Ireland. the U.S. is a very religious nation too, but they’ve made it clear to try to make a separation of church and state. Where does Ireland stand on the whole “church and state” issue? anyone mind telling me?
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dkb 6 months ago
Our reference to the Catholic Church having a special place in the church was removed from our constitution many years ago and we are a predominantly secular country. However the church still has patronage of many schools and so on, this is slowly being removed from them after the abuse scandals. I’ve never, ever seen our nation so angry over something in my life, and this is from the only country in Europe not to protest or complain about having extremely harsh austerity terms pushed onto us. We’ve had enough and this is the straw that broke the camels back on this issue.
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- jayayenenwhy Protests Erupt Over Woman Who Died Af... and thinks it’s WTF
- avivah Protests Erupt Over Woman Who Died Af...
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jodiathome 6 months ago
Did not mean to hit “old”. Thats awful. Devastating for her and her family.
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Benjamin Sapiens 6 months agoActually, “old” is an entirely appropriate reaction, considering how backwards and archaic these laws are.
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mariab6 6 months agoI am of the opinion that you are more than welcome to believe in whatever religion you want, to think whatever you will, but your opinions and your religion absolutely must not impede or harm the life of another. And in this case, you cannot claim you value the sanctity of life when you value a dying fetus over the woman who was carrying it. Everyone involved who denied this woman her right to abort should have their medical license revoked - and possibly pay for her funeral because they damn well caused it. This story disgusts me on every level.
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ecochic 6 months agoSo sad that women are treated as nothing more than incubators when they’re pregnant. I pray Savita did not have to die in vain.
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Beckysaurus-Rex 6 months agoOh my god just let people do what they won’t with their own bodies!! Pisses me off when governments DICTATE what we can and can’t do because of some made up guy called “Jesus” who apparently was an arse hole who made up the rules about what is right and wrong. Do we have to wait for more people to die before we change the fucking law?
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Dorkamorka 6 months ago
Jesus was a real guy, but he was much too busy trying to overthrow the Roman rule of Judea to give a crap about things like abortion.
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Alejandra V. 6 months agoI honestly don’t think that you should resort to attacking people who believe in Jesus when you’re trying to make your point. I’m pro-choice myself too, but I am also a Christian. Not everybody who believes in Jesus tries to dictate what others can and can’t do with their bodies. Just saying.
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ringdinger 6 months agoThese people are such strong individuals standing up for what is right. It’s a shame what happened to Savita because of the outdated ideas of a few nutjobs that make the laws.
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