At the end of October 2012, a young woman who had come to the west of Ireland from her home country of India to work and raise a family with her new husband died of sepsis at Galway University Hospital.
Her name was Savita Halappanavar.
The 31-year-old was 17 weeks pregnant when she went into hospital complaining of severe back pain. There she was given the devastating news that she was having a miscarriage.
She was admitted to the hospital so she could be cared for, but a week later she had passed away.
Her death may have passed unnoticed by wider society, were it not for the dedication and persistence of her husband, Praveen, who fought for answers as to why his wife had died and why she had been denied the abortion that may have saved her life.
Irish Times journalist Kitty Holland broke the story of her tragic death in November after which there were protests and vigils held across Ireland in Savita’s name while the calls for changes to Ireland’s strict abortion laws grew louder and louder.
The calls for change grew so loud they could not be ignored by politicians, and six years later a referendum was held to repeal the 8th Amendment. It was passed by two to one.
Kitty Holland talks to In The News about Savita and the impact her death had on Ireland
