Nov 20, 2012 Dear ProLife Colleague, If you have not yet, you WILL hear about this case in the media. The case: On Oct 21, a 31 year old married Hindu lady, a dentist by trade, at 17 wks gestation was admitted to Univ. Hospital Galway in Ireland. Her name is Savita Halappanavar. Reporting in the UK Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/14/ireland-abortion-law-woman-death gives us this story: Admitting dx apparently was 17 wk gestation, with spontaneous rupture of membranes. About 3 days later, heart tones were lost, a D&E was done, and at some point along the timeline, sepsis apparently developed. We can NOT tell in what sequence these three things came about from the newspaper article. Three days later Savita died, apparently of overwhelming sepsis. The actual cause of the sepsis is not stated. So a lot is not known for sure at this time. What is known is this: a pregnant woman died, and this is a terrible tragedy. Secondly, this case is gearing up to be the poster child in a attempt to loosen Ireland’s policies regarding termination of pregnancy. In fact, Ireland has a very adequate policy allowing termination of pregnancy to save the mother’s life, even if the baby is too premature to survive. It is quoted below. But the prochoice forces and liberal media will twist this case to make it appear that Irish law is the cause of this woman’s death. And they will bring overwhelming pressure on Ireland to loosen it’s abortion restriction, citing the imperative of saving women’s lives. They will ignore the fact that Irish policy already allows for this exception. And they will fail to mention that Ireland’s maternal mortality rate ranks among the lowest in the world, and is on a par with other developed nations of Europe, where abortion is widely available (and 3 times lower that the USA rate: 7/100,000 in Ireland, vs 21/100,000 in USA). The media and prochoice voices will argue that in light of the death of this woman, Ireland MUST loosen it’s restrictions on abortion. Watch and see. AAPLOG’s comments: The American Association of ProLife Obstetricians and Gynecologists expresses our sincere condolences to the family of Savita Halappanavar. The death of Savita and her child are a tremendous loss. We await the results of the investigations taking place by the Galway University Hospital and the Irish government as to the cause and circumstances of her fatal infection. As obstetrician-gynecologists involved with the care of women, we know that fatal infections can progress rapidly and have observed deaths from infections in pregnant women of a similar gestational age in our own institutions in the U.S. where abortion is legal. We abhor the exploitation of this tragic case to advocate legalization of abortion on demand in Ireland. Ireland has a sterling record of maternal safety in the world. The lack of a permissive abortion law did not cause Savita’s death. The Irish Medical Council has guidelines that allow necessary interventions, even if that treatment results in fetal death., when life-threatening maternal illness is present: “In current obstetrical practice, rare complications can arise where therapeutic interventions (including termination of a pregnancy) is required at a stage when, due to extreme immaturity of the baby, there may be little or no hope of the baby surviving. In these exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to intervene to terminate the pregnancy to protect the mother, while making every effort to preserve the life of the baby.” We do not yet know if failure to follow these guidelines contributed to the unfortunate outcome in Galway. In the U.S. we see frequent reports of women injured or dead in abortion clinics, as well as a high rate of preterm birth, cerebral palsy and mental health problems as a result of policies permitting abortion on demand. Ireland has thus far minimized these complications with their current policy, and should not allow Savita’s tragic death to alter their current practices protecting their women and children.