A REVIEW into the care of a pregnant Indian dentist who died after being denied an abortion in Ireland identified a number of failings when its conclusions were published on Thursday (June 13).
The death of 31-year-old Savita Halappanavar in October ignited calls for new legislation governing abortion in predominantly Catholic Ireland.
As the expert report was made public on Thursday, the Irish government published a new draft bill designed to clarify the rules for when doctors can carry out terminations.
Halappanavar’s husband Praveen claimed she had repeatedly asked medics for a termination, but the request was refused “because Ireland is a Catholic country”.
She died of blood poisoning in a hospital in Galway on Ireland’s west coat.
The review team, headed by a London-based professor, said the medical staff failed to adhere to clinical guidelines on the management of sepsis and septic shock.
It also highlighted inadequate assessment and monitoring that would have allowed the clinical team to respond to her deteriorating condition.
The review team stated: “There was a lack of recognition of the gravity of the situation and of the increasing risk to the mother which led to passive approaches and delays in aggressive treatment.
“This appears to have been either due to the way the law was interpreted in dealing with the case or the lack of appreciation of the increasing risk to the mother and the earlier need for delivery of the foetus,” the report said.
Health Minister James Reilly said the report “spares nobody and doesn’t pull any punches”.
Abortion remains a highly controversial issue in Ireland. Prime Minister Enda Kenny said he had received plastic foetuses and letters written in blood claiming he is a murderer because of his support for new legislation.
The draft legislation is aimed at clarifying the rules that legalise abortions in exceptional cases where doctors deem it necessary to save a woman’s life.
Abortion is currently illegal in Ireland except if there is a substantial risk to the mother’s life but there has been much confusion about implementing it.
Kenny said he had received a barrage of insults.
“I am getting medals, scapulars, plastic foetuses, letters written in blood, telephone calls all over the system,” he told parliament on Wednesday (June 12).
“I am now being branded by personnel around the country as being a murderer, and that I am going to have on my soul the death of 20 million babies.”
Kenny said he was a Catholic but he was determined to be Taoiseach, or prime minister, to all the Irish people.
“I am proud to stand here as a public representative, as a Taoiseach who happens to be a Catholic but not a Catholic Taoiseach. I am a Taoiseach for all of the people – that is my job,” he said.
