Three taken off abortion inquiry panel

Published on 21/11/2012 00:00

Ireland’s government has removed three doctors from its investigation into the death of an ailing woman who was denied an abortion in an Irish hospital.

Prime minister Enda Kenny told MPs he hoped the move would allow her widower to support the inquiry.

The U-turn came a day after a fact-finding panel was formed into why Savita Halappanavar, an Indian dentist, died on 28 October in hospital in Galway.

The 31-year-old died of blood poisoning a week after being admitted in pain and facing an imminent miscarriage. Doctors refused her requests for a termination because the 17-week-old foetus still had a heartbeat.

Ms Halappanavar’s widower had said he would not co-­operate with the inquiry because three of the Galway hospital’s senior doctors had been appointed as investigators.