THERE HAVE BEEN calls for an expansion of abortion care across the state, as campaigners are set to march in memory of Savita Halappanavar, 10 years on from her death.
At a press conference this afternoon, organised by the socialist feminist group ROSA, campaigners said that the death of Savita had been a turning point in Irish society on the issue of abortion.
“Savita’s deaths marked a turning point in Irish social change. The personal tragedy for Savita’s family turned into public outrage. I think what that outrage led and ignited a huge movement in this country for repeal and for abortion rights,” said former TD and ROSA member Ruth Coppinger.
The march itself is due to take place on Saturday 29 October and will go from the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin to Leinster House.
There were calls for reform of Irish abortion care legislation and a further expansion of abortion availability across the country.
Prominent abortion campaigner Ailbhe Smyth said that while the Repeal movement had achieved the removal of the 8th Amendment from the Constitution, people were continuing to fight for access to abortion services.
“I think it must be said that we are continuing to fight today to try to ensure that our legislation is not restrictive, that it is not punitive as it is at present, and that we do have services on a national, nationwide, countrywide basis to ensure that all those who need an abortion can actually access one as they are entitled to under the law,” Smyth said.
I think that without the provision of adequate services, it’s probably fair to say that, you know, a law is not worth the paper it’s drafted on if there is no follow up and no provision that enables people to activate their legal entitlement.
Smyth also raised concerns over restrictions on abortion services in other countries, particularly highlighting the US following the overturning of Roe v Wade in a landmark Supreme Court judgement earlier this year.
She added that “there was no room for complacency” here and that further work needed to be done to “protect and also to expand our legislation”.
Current abortion legislation, The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act, came into effect in January 2019 and allows for unrestricted terminations up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Terminations beyond the 12-week limit are only lawful in the case of a fatal foetal abnormality or a risk to the life or serious harm to the pregnant person.
A review of the abortion legislation is currently ongoing, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin previously telling the Dáil that it is due to be completed before the end of the year.
Legislation criticism
The current legislation was criticised by Director of the National Women’s Council, Orla O’Connor, who hit out at the three day waiting period, saying that it had “no medical purpose or value” and that it was a barrier to access.
Under the current legislation, women seeking to have an abortion must wait three days between consultation with a doctor and the abortion taking place.
“The mandatory three-day wait period has no medical purpose or value and is acting as a barrier to access,” said O’Connor.
Both O’Connor and Peter Boylan, former master of the National Maternity Hospital, criticised the criminal element of the legislation, where doctors can be prosecuted if they carry out an abortion outside of the 12-week limit.
“It’s the only area of medicine where a doctor can be criminally prosecuted as things stand in law at the moment,” said Boylan.
“An obstetrician dealing with a couple is open to a criminal prosecution if they make a mistake and that’s not the way you should practice medicine in a modern democracy.”
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