Indian immigrants welcome Ireland's new abortion law

By Trishna Guha It may have come too late for Savita Halappanavar but women in Ireland will forever note 31 July as the date that they regained control of making a choice when faced with a medical situation during pregnancy. Yesterday, Irish President Michael Higgins signed into law a bill that legalised abortion in exceptional cases where doctors deem that a woman’s life is at risk. The Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013, passed by the Parliament earlier in July after a number of heated debates, is the direct consequence of the controversial death of Halappanavar. Halappanavar, 31, an Indian woman working as a dentist in Ireland, was denied abortion when complications arose in the 31st week of her pregnancy, thus putting her life in danger. The reason given to her and her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, 34, was that as per Irish law, doctors could not operate on her as the foetus still had a heartbeat. By the time the foetus’s heart stopped beating, the infection had spread throughout Savita’s body resulting in her death due to septicaemia in November last year. This will not happen again. The new law clearly allows that a medical abortion will be allowed in Ireland in the case three circumstances, namely, medical emergency, physical illness and threat to commit suicide. [caption id=“attachment_1003521” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of protests posters in Ireland after Savita’s death. Reuters[/caption] The old abortion law did make the slightest ever mention of an abortion being allowed only if the mother’s life was at risk. But the lack of clarity as to what defines a risk was one of the pivotal reasons behind doctors not coming to Savita’s aid in time. There is still some red tape associated to it though as the clearance to abort can only be given after a panel of medical practitioners certify that the mother’s life is in danger and the aborting the unborn child is the only way to save her life. But as a whole, it’s a giant step forward for women in Ireland. The law will provide particular succour to Ireland’s large immigrant population, which while attracted to the country’s economic boom of the last decade, had to also submit itself to the some of the country’s more archaic laws. Dublin-based Aalishan (first name only), who started the online forum called Indians in Ireland, says “This is welcome news. And it has been due for a long time now.” Aalishan has lived in Ireland for the past 14 years and works as an IT professional. When asked if he had previously heard of grievances about the old abortion law from his fellow Indians in Ireland, he says, “Of course nothing major as what happened with Savita, but you will find several discussions on this topic on the forum.” The Republic of Ireland with a population of 4.6 million was one of the few Roman Catholic countries that had held on to the religion-dictated law, which deems abortion illegal and punishable by law. While this was a running debate within the Irish citizenry about this law, it was the immigrant population that got looked over in the noise. Each year, Ireland receives a considerable number of immigrants, mostly students or skilled workers. According to government sources, in 2012, Ireland received 88,000 visa applications out of which 91 percent were approved. Out of this 91 percent, 16 percent of the visa applications were that of Indian nationals, which was the highest, followed by Russia and China. Studies reveal that out of 7,786 work permits issued in 2010, 2,127 were bagged by Indian nationals. The inflow of Indians is highest in the healthcare and telecom sector here, reports indicate. This translates into a lot of Indian families living in Ireland seeking this country’s healthcare services. And like the Halappanavars, they all came into the purview of Irish laws when it came to healthcare. Some Indians are clearly angry still about Halappanavar’s case. Kapil Khanna, an Indian entrepreneur based in Dublin says, “What sense did it make to have such strict abortion law in a country when all its neighbouring countries are offering easy abortive options in their clinics? All one has to do to get an abortion is to travel 200 km to the UK. Let’s face it. Someone who wants an abortion will get it done somehow”. Khanna is stating an open secret in Ireland. It is not uncommon for Irish women of all ages to travel to the UK or Netherlands, where abortion is legal under all circumstances, to get such pregnancies aborted. Reports show that in the year 2010, 4,149 women who got their abortions done in British clinics gave Irish residential addresses. Out of these, quite a few were cases of teen pregnancies. Interestingly, The Pregnancy Bill 2013 still does not take into account unwanted or accidental pregnancies. While the ordeal of Savita Halappanavar case continues to rankle the Indian community in Ireland, some believe it was a one-off and that while the Irish government remains pro-life, it does not mean that the mother’s life has ever been secondary to that of the unborn child. Bincy Thomas, 32, is an Indian living and working in Ireland as a nurse in a hospital. She says that her hospital has seen complicated pregnancies and there have been cases where abortions were carried out when the mother’s life was in danger. “I also have given birth to both my sons here in Ireland and never have I faced any lack of care. Despite the fact that I am a foreigner here, my gynaecologist extended the same courtesy and care as she would to an Irish woman,” she says. “I am pro-life and in complete agreement with the Irish government on this new reform,” says Thomas. “An abortion should be the last resort and not an option.” Trishna Guha is a reporter and writer based in Ireland