Rape victim forced to have Caesarean in Ireland speaks out

Almost two years after Savita Halappanavar died of sepsis at a Galway hospital after being refused an abortion, Ireland’s lawmakers are under pressure once again over the country’s restrictive abortion law.

Little is known about the vulnerable woman whose case has made headlines around the world, as a court order is protecting her identity and her child’s.

But she has spoken out anonymously for the first time about what happened: from being raped before she came to Ireland, finding out she was pregnant, trying to kill herself and eventually being told that a Caesarean section was the only option available to her. One newspaper has reported that she came to the country as an asylum seeker.

She told the Irish Times that she immediately told medical officials she wanted to die rather than have her rapist’s child, when she found out she was pregnant at a medical check at 16 weeks. “It was very difficult for me. I cried. I said I am not capable of going through with this. I said I could die because of this,” she told the paper. “They said to me abortion was not legal here.”

She also said that over the course of many weeks, she was under the impression she was going to travel abroad to get an abortion, was later told this was too expensive, and finally told, after going on hunger strike in hospital at 24 weeks, that a Caesarean section was the only option open to her. Her account of what happened has not been confirmed by authorities.

Abortion law ‘not fit for purpose’

The law in Ireland was changed last year so that an abortion can be granted if the woman involved is believed by three doctors (or in some cases, six) to pose a suicide risk, and this case is the first to test the new Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013.

I said I am not capable of going through with this. I said I could die because of this. Rape victim

Lawyers have already alleged that officials did not act quickly enough when the case was brought to court, and Ireland’s Health Service Executive is investigating the circumstances surrounding the case, particularly why it took so long between her first referral and the final decision to have a Caesarean.

Pro-choice campaigners say the case proves that the new abortion law remains restrictive and prone to misinterpretation, and a protest is planned on Dublin’s O’Connell Street on Wednesday evening to protest the treatment of this woman, and to call for a change in the law. Choice Ireland Spokeswoman Stephanie Lord said the treatment of the woman proved the law is “not fit for purpose”.

“Choice Ireland pointed to potential difficulties like this when the legislation was being drafted and this will not be the last case where a woman seeking an abortion to save her life makes the headlines while this legislation remains on the statute books,” she added. “We are calling for a referendum to repeal the 8th amendment so that women can avail of the healthcare and medical treatments that they need.”

‘It is a great shame to be pregnant if not married’

The woman told the Irish Times that she was referred to the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) and was told that abortion was not legal, but that she could travel abroad for the procedure. She reportedly believed that the process was underway, but was then told later that the costs could be over 1,500 euros and that the state would not pay. She said that she made an attempt to take her own life at this stage. “In my culture it is a great shame to be pregnant if not married,” she said.

At 24 weeks, she was referred to hospital by a doctor because she was deemed suicidal, and said that she then went on hunger strike. She told the newspaper that doctors and nurses said she would have an abortion. But a few days later, the plan had changed. “Yes, I would have preferred an abortion… They said the pregnancy was too far. It was going to have to be a Caesarean section… They said wherever you go in the world, the United States, anywhere, at this point it has to be a Caesarean.

“I didn’t know if I could continue to suffer.”

The procedure was carried out a few weeks ago, and the baby is still in hospital.

In July, the United Nations human rights panel criticised the new law saying it treated women who were raped as “a vessel and nothing more”. The panel has recommended that the law be revised to provide for additional exceptions in cases of rape, incest, serious risks to the health of the mother, or fatal foetal abnormality.