As a leaked document in the US indicates overturning abortion rights provided nationally under the 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling, the story of Savita Halappanavar comes back in the spotlight after 10 years.
Halappanavar is being remembered across social media at a time like this because of a reason. She died a tragic death after being denied abortion. Here's her story from the start.
Halappanavar, a dentist, and her husband Praveen, an engineer, both natives of India, were living and working in County Galway at the time of her death in October 2012.?Savita arrived in an Irish hospital, complaining of lower back pain that had lasted for around 12 hours. She was 17 weeks into her first pregnancy.
After examination, doctors found that Savita¡¯s pregnancy was inevitably going to fail due to complications and she was admitted that same day. Her water then broke but the fetus was not expelled.
Savita and her husband asked whether her could be induced if the pregnancy had failed.?And they knew they needed to act to save Savita¡¯s life. They were told by a consultant that this was not possible under Irish law, as abortion as illegal.??
The consultant said it was the law, that this is a Catholic country. Savita [a Hindu] said: ¡®I am neither Irish nor Catholic¡¯ but they said there was nothing they could do.
That evening she developed shakes and shivering and she was vomiting. She went to use the toilet and she collapsed. There were big alarms and a doctor took bloods and started her on antibiotics.?
¡°The next morning I said she was so sick and asked again that they just end it, but they said they couldn¡¯t," said her husband Praveen.
A few hours later, the fetal heartbeat ceased, and Savita was taken into an operating room where her womb contents were removed.¡°When she came out she was talking okay but she was very sick," Praveen said. "That¡¯s the last time I spoke to her.¡±
At 11 pm that night, Praveen received a call from the hospital: ¡°They said they were shifting her to intensive care. Her heart and pulse were low, her temperature was high.
Savita¡¯s condition drastically worsened.?She was diagnosed with sepsis and was critically ill. She entered ICU, then two days later they said her heart, kidneys, and liver weren¡¯t functioning and she passed away the same night. The cause of her death was noted as multi-organ failure following sepsis and E. coli infection.
A post-mortem found the cause of Savita¡¯s death to be ¡°Fulminant septic shock from E. coli bacteremia; Ascending genital tract sepsis; Miscarriage at 17 weeks gestation associated with chorioamnionitis.¡±
Savita¡¯s death was one of the catalyzing forces that led to the repeal of Ireland¡¯s Eighth Amendment, which "acknowledged the right to life of the unborn, and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guaranteed in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.¡±
The end of Roe v. Wade would dramatically impact reproductive rights in the US. It would also likely have symbolic consequences globally, shaping the strategies and tactics of the trans-national anti-abortion movement.Overturning Roe v. Wade would put the US Supreme Court out of step with public sentiment.
Abortion is a routine and safe health-care procedure accessed by approximately one in four American women. 2021 polling indicated 80% of Americans support abortion in all or most cases, and at least 60% support Roe v Wade.If Roe v. Wade falls, abortion will be returned to the states for regulation.
About half the states are expected to immediately ban abortion; 16 states plus the District of Columbia have laws protecting abortion rights.In the short term, a patient¡¯s ability to legally access abortion would effectively be a lottery, determined by geography or having the financial resources to travel significant distances.
In the longer term, opponents of abortion view this moment as a beginning rather than an end. Republican lawmakers are already strategising about legislation that would ban abortion nationwide after six weeks.
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