Never Again.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been ten years since Savita Halappanavar died at University Hospital Galway after she was denied an abortion. Irish law at the time forbade abortion if a foetal heartbeat was present, despite the pregnancy being ruled as inviable. The official cause of death was recorded as “severe sepsis, E.coli in the bloodstream and a miscarriage at 17 weeks”. Savita died in the early hours of 28th October 2012.

Savita’s death marked a turning point when it came to fighting for bodily autonomy in Ireland.

In her honour a march will take place in Dublin on Saturday 29th October. The March for Savita will begin from the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Street to the Dáil “both to commemorate her and to restate what we vowed following her death – ‘Never Again.’”

While Ireland voted to Repeal the Eighth back in 2018, there are still significant issues surrounding abortion laws. The groups behind the march, National Women’s Council of Ireland and the socialist feminist group ROSA, explain the issues below:

“The issues that flowed from Savita’s death are still pressing. Repeal and the subsequent abortion law has been a seminal achievement, but limits in the law and access are leaving people behind. 375 people had to travel for abortions to England and Wales in 2019; only one in ten GPs are providing abortion services’ only 10 of the 19 maternity hospitals.”

Remembering Savita is all the more potent with the recent overturning of Roe vs. Wade in America, showing the fight for bodily autonomy is ever ongoing.

You can learn more about the March for Savita HERE.

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