Protests to be held at Irish Embassies across the world and at the Dail on Wednesday 21 November. Letter of protest signed by MEPs to be sent to Taoiseach.
Socialist Party / United Left Alliance MEP Paul Murphy today called for an international day of action for legal abortion in Ireland following the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar:
“The death of Savita Halappananavar is the tragic and unnecessary result of the failure of Irish governments to introduce abortion legislation. The failure to separate Church and state has resulted in the Catholic Church in Ireland having an over-bearing, conservative grip on health and educational policies.
“I am calling for an international day of action for Wednesday 21st to call for legal abortion to be introduced in Ireland. Protests will be held in cities and at Irish embassies across the world to put pressure on the Irish government to introduce legal abortion. Already I know that protests will take place in cities across Britain, in Belgium, Germany and Sweden.
“Along with Mikael Gustafsson, chair of the women’s Rights and Equality committee, I have initiated a letter of protest at the failure of the Irish state to legislate for abortion rights. The letter has already been signed by over 20 MEPs.
“International pressure can only embarrass the government, the people of Ireland must turn out in vast numbers at Saturday’s protest and maintain a campaign thereafter to force the government to legislate for full abortion rights.”
