Savita case: Ireland to legalise abortion

LONDON: Ireland on Tuesday announced it will legalise abortions when the mother’s life is at risk, weeks after the death of Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar who died after being refused an abortion in the European country.

The decision comes after a huge public outcry over the death of 31-year-old Savita, who died on October 28 at Galway University Hospital. She had been 17-week pregnant and was found to be miscarrying.

Savita’s husband said she asked repeatedly for a termination of the pregnancy but was refused and was told the foetal heartbeat was still present and “this is a Catholic country”.

The Irish government has decided to repeal legislation that makes abortion a criminal act and to introduce regulations setting out when doctors can perform an abortion when a woman’s life is regarded as being at risk, including by suicide, the Telegraph newspaper reported.

Irish health minister Dr James Reilly said that the government was aware of the controversy surrounding abortion.

Ireland’s abortion laws are the strictest in Europe and any proposed legislation to decriminalise abortion will stoke furious debate in the country. PUNE: Thirteen people were killed and one injured when a dome-shaped slab being erected on a four-storey building collapsed in suburban area of the city on Tuesday. The building, to be made a 60-bed cancer hospital, was being constructed by the Bharatiya Sanskriti Darshan Trust off the PuneAhmednagar road near Wagholi.