Don’t use Savita to promote killing

■ How can Emma O’Brien (Irish Independent, October 30) be so misled over the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar? As evidenced by the three independent inquests into her death, she died from sepsis and dreadful medical neglect.

It’s often said that if a lie is repeated often enough it comes to be believed and I do acknowledge the very many efforts by those who have shamefully used her death to campaign for abortion here.

A claim at the inquest that her death was due to the Eighth Amendment was not accepted but, rather, the verdicts as outlined above were given.

It is so sad to see so many people being misled and, instead of working for all proper medical care to be given to women and their babies, seeking to withdraw the protection in our Constitution for the unborn baby.

I agree with Ms O’Brien that our response to a crisis pregnancy should certainly be “with compassion and kindness”, but fail to see how this can occur if it entails the killing of the baby in the womb.

We surely can be better than that. Ms O’Brien may not be aware of the vast number of babies aborted in India because they are girls. It is never in the interest of any woman to kill her baby

– it is best to have every support and assistance provided for both her and baby.

Finally, it should be pointed out that Ireland has a much lower maternal death rate than the countries where abortion is freely available, including Britain with its up to 200,000 abortions annually, so why should abortion be legalised here?

Savita Halappanavar deserves better than her tragic death being used to promote the killing of babies in the womb.

Mary Stewart Donegal town, Co Donegal