Ireland has opened a new investigation into the death of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old woman who died in October after being denied an abortion, Reuters reports. Abortions are illegal in the majority Catholic country except when the life of the mother is at risk, but Irish law does not clarify when the threat is high enough to allow the termination.
Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year old dentist, was admitted to hospital in severe pain on October 21 and asked for a termination after doctors said her baby would not survive, according to husband Praveen, but in a country with some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws, surgeons would not remove the fetus until its heartbeat stopped days later.
Husband Praveen Halappanavar, who believes the delay contributed to the blood poisoning that killed his wife on October 28, has said he would not cooperate with an investigation already launched by the country’s health service because he did not believe it would be neutral.
