A 10th Anniversary March For Savita Halappanavar Is Happening This Weekend

Savita died 10 years ago this month.

A march will take place this weekend to commemorate Savita Halappanavar, who died 10 years ago this month.

The ‘Savita: 10 years on, the march goes on’ event will take place from the Garden of Remembrance on Saturday, October 29 at 1pm to remember Savita and to say “never again.”

Savita died in University Hospital Galway in 2012 after she developed sepsis and was denied an abortion on legal grounds. Her death led to widespread protests across Ireland ahead of the eventually repeal of the eighth amendment, which made abortion legal in Ireland up to 12 weeks gestation.

The march, organised by ROSA, is taking place to remember Savita a decade on from her passing, and to call for increased abortion access in Ireland. As it stands, only one in 10 GPs are currently offering such services.

“The issues that flowed from Savita’s death are still pressing,” say the National Women’s Council in Ireland (NWCI). “Repeal and the subsequent abortion law has been a seminal achievement, but limits in the law and access are leaving people behind.

375 people had to travel for abortions to England and Wales in 2019; only one in ten GPs are providing abortion services, only 10 of the 19 maternity hospitals. Furthermore, the debacle of the National Maternity Hospital shows that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens are unwilling/unable to stand up to the church.

“Despite an epidemic of gender based and LGBTQ-phobic violence this year, as we’ve graphically seen with the murders of Ashling Murphy, Michael Snee and Aidan Moffitt, nothing has been done to provide comprehensive sex education in all schools that is LGBTQ-inclusive and consent focused.

“The time to march is now!”

The march for Savita takes place at Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance at 1pm on Saturday, October 29.

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