Savita Halappanavar's Parents: If the Irish vote 'yes', new law should be named after our daughter

Savita Halappanavar’s parents watching referendum closely, result of which is likely today

The people of Ireland voted on Friday in a historic referendum on whether to repeal or retain a constitutional clause protecting the rights of the unborn child. The referendum has a strong resonance in India since Savita Halappanavar was the unfortunate victim of the Constitutional amendment which had come into effect in 1983 in Ireland, banning abortions entirely. When Savita developed pregnancy complications and requested an abortion, the doctors at a hospital in Galway, Ireland, refused a medical termination of pregnancy that could have saved Savita’s life. The death of the 31-year-old dentist from Belagavi on October 28, 2012 sparked worldwide outrage then and has attracted a groundswell of support to repeal the amendment. Hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens flew in to cast their vote for this referendum.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had warned that the referendum is a “once in a generation decision”. If the proposal to repeal the constitutional clause is defeated, it is likely to be at least 35 years before voters get another say on the matter. If the vote is in favour of repeal, the government plans to introduce legislation permitting unrestricted abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Abortions up to the 23rd week will be permitted when a woman’s health is threatened and in cases of a fatal foetal abnormality.
Savita had moved to Ireland after her marriage to Praveen Halappanavar. The young dentist who was looking forward to having her first child, died an untimely death when sepsis set, sparking outrage and debate. Post marriage, she moved to Ireland with her husband Praveen Halappanavar who has now moved to the US.

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It’s five years since Savita died but for her parents – Andaneppa S Yalgi, a retired engineer, and her mother Akkamahadevi – the pain of losing their daughter is still raw. When BM met them at their residence Sangamesh Nilaya in Belagavi, they still found it hard to talk about her without their eyes glistening with tears.


AS Yalgi has been appealing to the people of Ireland to vote to repeal the Amendment, so that what happened to his daughter should not happen to any other family.

“If the law is passed in favour of abortion, then we would want it to be named after Savita. The 8th amendment was responsible for the death of my daughter. There have been several protests in Ireland demanding a change to the 8th Amendment which will give pregnant women the choice to terminate pregnancy. People have held cut outs of my daughter for protests. In winter they have come out and held candlelight protests. A mother’s life is important. Give her permission to abort, if it puts her life at risk. We are very positive about the outcome,” he said.


The family has been following the developments closely on television as well as through people who keep contacting them and even a few journalist friends there who often send links to news stories about the amendment. Trying to control his emotions, Akkamahadevi recalled some happy times: “Our daughter had invited us to Ireland and took us around the country. We were all so happy and that was one of the best moments of our lives. We were there for three months. We came back to Bengaluru on October 24 and on 28, we were informed that she is no more.”
The last time they spoke to her was before boarding the flight to Bengaluru from Dublin. Akkamahadevi says that though she was in the hospital, she had checked with her brother to find out if her parents had reached home safely. Savita’s two brothers are both software engineers. One is based in Bengaluru and one is in the Netherlands.


Said Yalgi: “After her death, we were called several times to Ireland. When my daughter is not there, what is the point in going there. Our three-month visit to Ireland when she was alive was probably our first and last visit.”

Talking about his only daughter, Yalgi said she was a talented girl, excelling in both academics and dance. Though she was not formally trained in dance, she was a natural and participated in many competitions and trained her friends too.

Even when in Ireland, Savita had participated and won the first prize in a competition, where dancers from seven countries had participated. When she was in Class V, Savita had won the first prize in Karnataka for an extempore speaking competition. She was very popular among her friends, said her parents, with a good command over Kannada, English and Hindi.


A bright and young life snuffed out before her time, Savita continues to be a catalyst for an important life-altering law in a country far, far away from Belagavi.