Death of Savita Halappanavar
Sir, – Apart from the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar itself, the most sickening aspect of the case has been the use of her death by the pro-abortion lobby to advance their evil agenda. It appears that nothing is out of bounds as fodder in their campaign.
At this stage we don’t know the complete sequence of events, yet the rush to judgment brigade has already reached its verdict, with the usual predictable scapegoating.
What we do know is that Irish hospitals have an excellent record of maternity care, usually close to the top of all international ratings. In stark contrast, a number of investigative reports in recent years have revealed horrific stories of malpractice at abortion clinics in the US and the UK. So criticisms from these countries are beneath contempt.
Likewise, the abortion regime in Savita’s own country, India, is a horror story in its own right. Selective female abortion being the surgery of choice, on a grand scale.
Irrational, knee-jerk reactions are the last thing we need at this stage. The stakes are simply too high. Let’s have a proper inquiry into the tragedy and take it from there. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Even if we, as a nation, are irrevocably polarised on whether or not a woman should have the right to choose, can’t we at least recognise that her right to best medical practise must be paramount? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – As a visitor to this country for the past week, I have followed the tragic news of the death of Ms Halappanavar. In all the talk of unclear ethical guidelines, interpretations of Articles of the Constitution and of Cases A, B, C and X there has been no word from the church and no questions put to the religious representatives in this matter.
Why aren’t papers such as yours, and the Irish media in general, not asking for a statement from the church, let alone demanding it justify its position on termination in the light of this terrible event? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The Government’s insistence that we wait for the conclusions of various reports into the death of Savita Halappanavar is a stalling tactic that could cost more lives. Whatever those reports conclude, the fact is that the lack of legislation on medical terminations means doctors cannot act where there is an explicit threat to the woman’s life for fear of repercussion.
We do not need to wait on reports or until another woman’s life is lost to introduce legislation. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – David Carroll (November 16th) claims, “The only reason we have not introduced abortion in Ireland is because the people, and the politicians we elect to represent us, overwhelmingly oppose it”. This is incorrect. Thirty years ago we were told we needed to make something already illegal unconstitutional. Twenty years ago we rejected a further tightening of prohibition on abortion, and stated that we should not stop abortions being sought in other jurisdictions, we also agreed that information should be available to facilitate this. We rejected (again) the exclusion of the risk of suicide as a threat to life in 2002.
