News Release by the Pro Life Campaign
9th October 2013
Pro Life Campaign accuses The Irish Times of rush to judgment in Savita story
The Pro Life Campaign has accused The Irish Times of a rush to judgment for linking the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar to Ireland’s abortion laws before the full facts of the case had emerged.
Following today’s Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report which criticised the basic deficiencies in the care of Ms Halappanavar, Dr Ruth Cullen of the Pro Life Campaign said:
“It is actually obscene the way some politicians and The Irish Times in particular linked this tragic case to abortion from the very start and refused to withhold judgment until the full facts emerged.
“We now know from today’s HIQA report and earlier reports that this story was never really about abortion and that the key issues in the death of Ms Halappanavar were basic deficiencies in patient care and the catalogue of failures in monitoring and recognising the grave risk to her life caused by serious infection.
“This should be a moment when The Irish Times and others ask some searching questions about the way they covered the story. But I doubt very much that this will happen.
“A woman from Ireland recently bled to death in the back of a taxi in London hours after a botched abortion at a Marie Stopes clinic in London. I think it is fair to ask why thistragedy received little or no media scrutiny in Ireland in stark contrast to the Savita case?
“Praveen Halappanavar and Savita’s extended family deserve answers to all the questions at the centre of this tragic story. I sincerely hope today’s report represents another helpful step in establishing the truth and making sure that proper procedures are implemented in the interests of proper patient care.”
ENDS
