The right thing must be done at right time

ONE line defined the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, when the story emerged last November. “This is a Catholic country,” a midwife, later identified as Anne Maria Burke, had told Ms Halappanavar when explaining why a termination of her pregnancy wasn’t possible.

A more appropriate line might have been: “This is a shoddy country, where the right thing only ever gets done in the wake of public outrage.”

The tragedy of Ms Halappanavar’s death was used by groups that have strong opinions on abortion. For the pro-choice side, it was an example of how the country was barbaric towards women. The ‘pro-life’ movement protested that the death was an aberration, that this country was among the safest in which to give birth, that there was no requirement for a law to protect women in peril.