Daughter's "Soul Consoled": Savita Halappanavar's Parents After Ireland Abortion Vote

Belagavi: "Our daughter's soul is now consoled," the parents of a woman who died of complications in 2012 after being denied abortion by doctors in Ireland said today, a day after the country voted to repeal its stringent abortion laws in a landmark referendum.

"It is a landslide opinion in favour of repeal of the abortion laws that has supported our cause," Savita's father Andanappa Yalagi told PTI.

One of the key cases influencing the debate on abortion in Ireland was that of dentist Savita Praveen Halappanavar, who died of sepsis in the Galway University hospital after being denied an abortion during a protracted miscarriage in 2012.

The 31-year-old woman's death had triggered a massive debate in that country over the issue of life-saving abortions.

Hailing the result of the referendum, Akkamahadevi, Savita's mother said, "It is also a win for Kitty Holland who took up the mission and created awareness among the Irish people on the unnatural law."

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Kitty Holland is a journalist with the Irish times, who broke the story of Savita's death.

Holland had come all the way to India and met Yalagi family here in 2013, before penning a book titled 'Savita - The tragedy that shook a nation.

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The couple said the new law would enable women to opt for abortion in emergency cases, which would save their lives.

A vote in favour of repeal paves the way for the Irish Parliament to legislate for a change which would see the introduction of a much more liberal regime.

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The Catholic church in Ireland had strongly opposed repealing the law.