Abortion law reform demanded as protesters march in Dublin
The calls come on the tenth anniversary of the death of Savita Halappanavar after she was refused a termination while miscarrying.
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Your support makes all the difference.Protesters have taken to the streets in Dublin to demand abortion law reform in Ireland on the tenth anniversary of the death of a woman refused a termination while miscarrying.
Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, 31, died in a Galway hospital in 2012 and her death was one of the catalysts for abortion reform in Ireland.
The Irish electorate voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment in a 2018 referendum, ushering in a major liberalisation of Irelandās abortion law and ending what was effectively a constitutional ban on abortion.
A medical abortion is available up to 12 weeks but abortions thereafter are only allowed if there is a serious threat to the life or health of the mother, or where two clinicians agree there is a fatal foetal abnormality.
Urgent reform is needed to decriminalise abortion, remove the three-day wait period and the 12-week limit to enable abortion on request up to viability
Speakers at a march in Dublin called for what they termed the removal of barriers that are forcing some pregnant women to travel to access abortion.
There has also been a call to create a permanent memorial to Ms Halappanavar.
The march, which started at the Garden of Remembrance before proceeding across the city centre to Leinster House, was organised by a number of organisations.
Orla OāConnor, director of the National Womenās Council, said Ms Halappanavarās death was a turning point in Ireland.
āWhile abortion is now provided, it remains unfinished business as women and couples continue to travel as they cannot access abortion at home,ā she said.
āOur legislation goes against the recommendations of the World Health Organisation and situates abortion outside the normal range of healthcare which women need.
āUrgent reform is needed to decriminalise abortion, remove the three-day wait period and the 12-week limit to enable abortion on request up to viability.ā
Ruth Coppinger, a former TD and member of the ROSA Socialist Feminist Movement, said: āA campaign for a permanent memorial to Savita will be launched from the march as a fitting reminder that never again should religious views hold sway over human rights.
āThose who fought for repeal are marching today but so too are young people who donāt remember Savita, but who see the rights of women and LGBT+ people dismantled in the US and see schoolgirls bravely taking on religious dictatorship in Iran.ā
Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Eilis Mulroy said it is āunfair and disingenuousā for the tenth anniversary of Ms Halappanavarās death to see calls for āan even more extreme expansion of the Irish abortion lawā.
āWhilst her tragic death was the result of medical oversight, it was not caused by the Eighth Amendment as campaigners for abortion have incessantly claimed,ā she said.
āMismanaged sepsis was the cause of Savitaās death, as backed up by several independent reports, and not the denial of an abortion.
āTen years on from her death, it is highly inappropriate for campaigners and pro-abortion politicians to continue leaning on myths and mistruths to push for a radical expansion of Irelandās already extreme abortion law.ā