(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121219-abortion-savita-2a.380;380;7;70;0.jpg)Irish Times via ReutersSavita Halappanavar died of septicaemia a week after miscarrying 17 weeks into her pregnancy.By ReutersLaws allowing limited access to abortion will be introduced in Ireland, the only European Union member state that bans the procedure, following the death of a woman who was refused a termination, the government said on Tuesday.
The death last month of 31-year-old Savita Halappanavar, who was denied the abortion of her dying fetus and later died of blood poisoning, shocked the predominantly Roman Catholic country and spurred the government to act on an issue it had delayed for decades.
Abortion was banned in all circumstances by a constitutional amendment in 1983, but when challenged by a 14-year-old rape victim in the so-called "X-case" nine years later, the Supreme Court ruled a termination was permitted when the woman's life was at risk, including from suicide.
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