The husband of Savita Halappanavar, who died in Irelandafter she was allegedly denied an abortion will not cooperate with the inquiryinto her death, his lawyer said. Savita, a 31-year-old dentist, died ofsepticaemia days after miscarrying at Galway University Hospital in westernIreland on October 28. Her family said she asked several times for atermination but this was refused because there was a foetal heartbeat. The casesparked international outrage and focused attention on Ireland's abortion laws,which rule out termination unless the life of the mother is at risk.
Lawyer Gerard O'Donnell told Irish national radio thatSavita's husband, Praveen Halappanavar, has no confidence in the Health ServiceExecutive, which runs Ireland's health service, to carry out an inquiry intohis wife's death. Two investigations are under way: an internal one by thehospital and another by the HSE. O'Donnell said Praveen Halappanavar wants anindependent inquiry to be held in public on the cause of his wife's death."It's important to remember that he lost his wife while under the care ofthe HSE," O'Donnell said.
"He feels that anybody who is appointed by the HSE orpaid for by the HSE to conduct an enquiry into his wife's death won't meet thecriteria that we would advise him, as lawyers, of getting to the truth,"he added.
A series of protests have taken place around the world inthe past week, including a march to the Irish parliament in Dublin lastSaturday, November 17, that was attended by 10,000 to 12,000 people, accordingto police estimates, though reports on blogs puts the number at almost 20,000.
Demonstrators called on the government to introducelegislation reflecting a 1992 Supreme Court judgement that ruled women inIreland are legally entitled to an abortion when there is a real andsubstantial risk to the life of the mother. On Monday, November 19, the HSEappointed an independent expert to chair the investigation into the death. Theseven-person inquiry team was set to include three medical consultants fromGalway -- but hours after Praveen Halappanavar said he had no faith in theprobe, Prime Minister Enda Kenny announced that this decision had beenreversed.
