Thousands protest in Ireland to liberalize abortion laws

The recent death of a woman reportedly denied an abortion has sparked outrage. In Dublin, thousands of marchers demanded liberalization of Ireland's tough – and, some say, unclear – anti-abortion laws.



By Jason Walsh
Christian Science Monitor
November 17, 2012

Thousands gathered on the streets of Irish capital Dublin today to demand liberalization of Ireland's stringent anti-abortion laws.

The street protest, the second the city has seen in three days, was called in response to the Oct. 28 death in a Galway hospital of Savita Halappanavar, who was pregnant and reported to the hospital complaining of severe pain. She was reportedly refused an abortion, and died after complications during a miscarriage. Her widower, Praveen, says they was told this was because Ireland was "a Catholic country."

The death has sparked outrage across Ireland — and the world. One headline in an Indian newspaper's online edition accused Ireland of murdering Ms. Halappanavar.

March organizers claim a turnout of 20,000, but Irish police gave a figure of 6,000. Either way, the march was unusually large by Irish standards, wending its war from the Garden of Remembrance, a national independence memorial, to Ireland's parliament, DáIl Éireann, just over a mile away.

More: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2012/1117/Thousands-protest-in-Ireland-to-liberalize-abortion-laws