By now most of you will have heard the tragic story of Savita Halappanavar who died in an Irish hospital from septicaemia following a miscarraige which lasted almost three days. The medical staff refused to terminate the pregnancy as there was still a foetal heartbeat. It is reported that a member of staff told Savita's husband that 'this is a Catholic country' - although that has been denied by other parties.
If you haven't heard the details you might want to read this post by Lisa at Mama.ie - she sums up what I wanted to write pretty perfectly.
To my mind the issue is being taken in too many different directions by the media and subsequently by the many people around the world who are waking up to this story. This is largely due to the term 'abortion' rather than 'medical termination' being used in the reports.
This issue is not about abortion.
The real issue here is actually very simple - Ireland needs to put in place proper legislation for cases in which the mother of an unborn child is at risk so that the medical profession can act with confidence and without fear of repercussion.
In fact it beggers belief that this legislation hasn't already been put in place and I am in complete confusion as to why it hasn't.
This issue is not about Catholicism.
In my first year of college I studied Theology and part of the syllabus was the discussion of abortion in Ireland. We were taught that the Catholic Church only condoned the termination of a pregnancy if the mother's life was at risk.
So even if the doctors at that hospital had followed the Catholic route Savita could have been saved.
This issue it not about abortion. This issue is not about Catholicism. This issue is about getting our Government to pull their finger out and tackle an issue that they didn't want to touch with a barge pole because of the perceived negative implications it may have had for them.
But now as the story races around the world and women stand up in shock and outrage, and now that the UK and US media have picked up on it and the overwhelming cry of 'how could this happen?' is screamed into the ears of our politicians - somehow now I think they may find the time and inclination to take action.
