Witchy Woman

Staff at Galway University Hospital have backed up claims by the husband of Savita Halappanavar that she had asked for and was refused a termination at the hospital just days before she died last October.

The inquest into the 31-year-old woman’s death opens in Galway this morning, and yesterday it emerged that statements provided to the inquest confirm her husband Praveen’s version of what happened in the days before she died on October 28th.

She had been 17 weeks pregnant when she presented at the hospital a week earlier with severe back pain and was found to be miscarrying.

Her husband said, following her death, that she had been in pain and repeatedly asked for a medical termination over a three-day period but this was refused as a foetal heartbeat was still present and they were told “this is a Catholic country”.