Know why Ireland’s new abortion law may be named after Indian dentist

Ireland’s new abortion law may be named after Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, whose death in 2012 triggered a nationwide ‘Yes’ campaign against the ban on termination of pregnancy.

Savita, who moved to the Catholic country with her husband, had died of sepsis in Galway in 2012 after an Irish court denied her the permission to abort her pregnancy.

Early on Friday, the Republic of Ireland voted overwhelmingly in a referendum held to overturn the abortion ban. Over 66 per cent Irish citizens voted in favour of lifting the ban.

After the referendum, the Eighth Amendment of Ireland’s Constitution, which grants an equal right to life to the mother and unborn, will be replaced with a new provision for termination of the pregnancy.

Until Friday, abortion in Ireland was only allowed when a woman’s life was at risk, but it was banned in cases of rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormality.

Savita’s father Andanappa Yalagi requested the government of Ireland to name the new legislation after his daughter.

“We have one last request, that the new law is called ‘Savita’s Law’. It should be named for her,” the Irish Times quoted Yalagi as saying.

The country leading pro-repeal activists have also extended their support to Yalagi and demanded that the new law should be named after Savita, whose death led to the change in the country’s abortion rules.

On Sunday, the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had said that the new legislation will be in place by the end of 2018. The new law will allow termination of pregnancy during the first 12^th weeks and up to 24^th weeks in critical cases.