Savita Halappanavar was a tragic victim of our State’s restrictive legal position on abortion.

We, as doctors, need the freedom to provide the best medical care to our patients. For too long, the health of Irish women has been compromised by restrictive laws, which have no logical grounding in the field of Medicine. Irish doctors have been unable to follow best-practice, unable to offer women the treatment they desire and unable to follow internationally-standardised guidelines. We need to be released from the chill of these legislative restraints so that doctors can treat an illness before a life-threatening situation develops.

We need Action on X. Following the outcome of Coroner Dr. Ciaran MacLoughlin’s inquest, Doctors for Choice demands that both the government and the Irish Medical Council urgently provide security and clarity to doctors, that they can terminate a pregnancy before a life-threatening situation develops. Otherwise women’s health will continue to suffer, women’s lives will be jeopardised and more tragedies will follow.’