Woman in Ireland Dies After Being Denied Abortion; Was Told
'This Is a Catholic Country'  A 31-year-old woman admitted to a
hospital in Galway, Ireland, late last month with severe back
pain was revealed to be miscarrying, but doctors repeatedly
refused to abort the fetus.  Savita Halappanavar, who was 17
weeks pregnant at the time, eventually developed a life-
threatening infection to which she succumbed a week later.
According to Halappanavar's husband Praveen, his wife asked
doctors at University Hospital Galway on multiple occasions over
the course of three days to terminate the pregnancy after being
told she was miscarrying and the fetus had no chance of
survival.  However, as a fetal heartbeat remained present,
doctors refused to perform an abortion.  "The consultant said it
was the law, that this is a Catholic country," Halappanavar told
the Irish Times. "Savita [a Hindu] said: ‘I am neither Irish nor
Catholic' but they said there was nothing they could do."
Abortions are illegal in Ireland except in