Doctors for Choice: But What Will Change?

With inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar concluded and the Irish government on the brink of bringing forth new legislation – a position, recall, forced on it by a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights – it seems timely to remind ourselves of what will NOT change here in Ireland despite all that has happened.

In the video below, Dr Mary Favier, (Doctors for Choice) sets out the following key points about the current situation here in Ireland and what the government legislation proposes NOT to address. [The video was record at the March for Choice held in Cork in March, 2013].

She states:

1) The new proposed legislation will affect no more than 5 to 10 Irish women every year. This is a miniscule number compared to the actual number of women in Ireland who consider the option of a termination in any one year.

2) The new proposed legislation would not have helped Savita and Praveen Halappanavar to overcome the legal obstacles placed in their way and which, in effect, led directly to Savita’s death when she was refused an abortion in Galway last year – see article link below.

3) The proposed legislation will not help any woman who has an unwanted pregnancy as a result of a criminal act such as rape or incest. Such a women will still have to travel outside the Irish state to obtain a termination.

4) The proposed legislation will not help any of the estimated 4000-5000 women who travel out of Ireland each year to have an abortion.