Ireland

Emma Watson pens open letter to Savita Halappanavar and calls for Northern Ireland abortion law change

Emma Watson said Savita Halappanavar's death "powered the determination of activists to change Irish abortion laws" 
Emma Watson said Savita Halappanavar's death "powered the determination of activists to change Irish abortion laws"  Emma Watson said Savita Halappanavar's death "powered the determination of activists to change Irish abortion laws" 
By Digital Staff

ACTRESS Emma Watson has penned an open letter to Savita Halappanavar, whose death in 2012 following a septic miscarriage was the catalyst for the Republic's historic referendum that legalised abortion.

The actor, best-known for playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, was asked by fashion magazine Porter to write the letter honouring the Indian-born dentist who was denied an abortion despite requesting one that could have potentially saved her life before she died 17 weeks into her pregnancy.

An investigation into her death found there had been 13 opportunities to save her life while she was being cared for by doctors at Galway University Hospital.

Writing in Porter magazine, Ms Watson said: “You didn’t want to become the face of a movement; you wanted a procedure that would have saved your life. When news of your death broke in 2012, the urgent call to action from Irish activists reverberated around the world – repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution.”

She continued: "That the eighth amendment enabled valuing the life of an unborn fetus over a living woman was a wake-up call to a nation. For you, and those forced to travel to the UK to access safe, legal abortion, justice was hard-won.”

Ms Watson, who is known for her feminist campaigning and activism, also criticised abortion laws in the north, which remains the only place in the UK or Ireland where the procedure remains illegal.

She wrote: "From Argentina to Poland, restrictive abortion laws punish and endanger girls, women and pregnant people. Still, Northern Ireland’s abortion law predates the lightbulb. In your memory, and towards our liberation, we continue the fight for reproductive justice."