The death of Savita Halappanavar has given rise to a new set of ethical questions not only in Ireland, which has strong laws against abortion but also across the Christian world in which abortion is still seen as unethical, in spite of many of these countries having the best medical care facilities anywhere. Indian-origin Savita was admitted to a hospital in Galway, in Ireland, with severe pain on 21 October and asked for a termination of her baby after doctors had confirmed that the baby would not survive. But the medical fraternity dillydallied as removing the foetus amounted to abortion. The foetus was surgically removed only when its heartbeat stopped days later, but by that time the damage was done. Her family has said that the delay in removing the baby led to her septicaemia that killed Halappanavar a week later, on 29 October. As per her family, had the operations been done on time, the baby, already in grave danger, would not have survived anyway but Savita could have been saved. Instead, the doctors discussed the ethics of the case and let her die. In a country like India where medical apathy is one of the world’s highest, this is regular news, but in Europe, the death has raised many heckles and some serious questions.
The Irish church has been dragged into the debate which has described the incident as terrible while an enquiry has already been ordered by the Irish government. But that is not the end. Fifty-three members of the European parliament have sent a strong-worded letter to Irish prime minister Enda Kenny asking him to take immediate action to process a legislation which allows abortion in cases where the life of the mother is in danger. If nothing else, Savita’s death may have led to an important piece of legislation but it is very unfortunate that it took a death to understand that in most cases abortion is less an ethical issue and more a medical condition.
Otherwise also, as protests around the world has proved, it is time that the Christian world, which includes a major chunk of the US, gets over the abortion fetish and tries to evolve a realistic worldview about the matter, a worldview that makes space for new thoughts, new technology and new ethical understanding of abortion. Abortion is not a crime and could necessitated by a plethora of issues. Most importantly, a women’s right to abortion should be upheld under any circumstances.
The Irish church has been dragged into the debate which has described the incident as terrible while an enquiry has already been ordered by the Irish government. But that is not the end. Fifty-three members of the European parliament have sent a strong-worded letter to Irish prime minister Enda Kenny asking him to take immediate action to process a legislation which allows abortion in cases where the life of the mother is in danger. If nothing else, Savita’s death may have led to an important piece of legislation but it is very unfortunate that it took a death to understand that in most cases abortion is less an ethical issue and more a medical condition.
Otherwise also, as protests around the world has proved, it is time that the Christian world, which includes a major chunk of the US, gets over the abortion fetish and tries to evolve a realistic worldview about the matter, a worldview that makes space for new thoughts, new technology and new ethical understanding of abortion. Abortion is not a crime and could necessitated by a plethora of issues. Most importantly, a women’s right to abortion should be upheld under any circumstances.