Irish bishops respond to woman's death; pro-abortion activists planned to exploit tragedy
CWN - November 19, 2012
Responding to the “devastating personal tragedy” of Savita Halappanavar’s death, Ireland’s Catholic bishops have issued a statement confirming that Church teaching did not prevent medical treatment in her case.
“The Catholic Church has never taught that the life of a child in the womb should be preferred to that of a mother,” the bishops’ statement said. The statement observed while intentional abortion is immoral, a medical treatment that is necessary to save the mother’s life is justified, even if the baby’s death is an unintended consequence. The bishops also noted that Irish law allows for such treatment.
In a related development, the Irish Independent disclosed that pro-abortion activists were informed about the death of Savita Halappanavar three days before it became public knowledge, and used that time to plan a campaign to exploit the tragedy.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Statement by the Standing Committee of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference (Irish bishops' conference)
- Treatment that risks foetus can be 'ethically permissible' - Catholic bishops (RTE)
- Pro-choice activists got tip-off on tragic death (Irish Independent)
- Rush to judgment in Irish miscarriage tragedy (CWN, 11/15)
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Posted by: CatherineNY -
Nov. 19, 2012 7:28 PM ET USA
This is the actual link to the bishops' statement: http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2012/11/19/statement-standing-committee-irish-catholic-bishops-conference-equal-inalienable-life-mother-unborn-child/. After reading it, I am still in the dark about what medical treatment would have been allowed in this specific case.
