FACT CHECK:
ABORTION IN IRELAND

1 | Dr. Savita and Her Baby Die

28.10.12 | Dr. Savita Halappanavar and her 17 week-old unborn baby die at University Hospital Galway, from septicaemia (blood poisoning) following complications of a miscarriage. Very prominent Irish and Indian doctors publicly state that abortion has little or nothing to do with the case.

2 | Media Waits To Publish the Story, Abortion Advocates Know in Advance

28.10.12 - 14.11.12 | Dr. Savita's husband and the media are silent for over two weeks about her death. Abortion advocates know that the story is going to break at least 3 days ahead of time and coordinate a media strategy exploiting the death to promote their long-standing campaigns to legalise abortion in Ireland.

3 | The Tragedy Publicized

28.10.12 - 14.11.12 | The original Irish Times story is written by the daughter of two noted abortion activists. In parallel to the release of the Expert Report on abortion, a globally coordinated media effort covers the story of Dr. Savita's death. The media consistently blames her death on Ireland's abortion restrictions and Catholic culture.

4 | Controversy Erupts Over Investigation Team

20.11.12 | Within hours of the Irish government naming the 7 member team to investigate Dr. Savita's death, the lead expert was revealed to be a major abortion advocate, and three other experts were removed after protests from Dr. Savita's husband.

5 | Journalist who Broke Savita Story Abandons her Narrative

1.12.12 | Kitty Holland, who co-wrote the original Irish Times story, admitted in an a radio interview that she was "not satisfied" that Savita or her husband requested a termination.

Despite Holland's claim in a subsequent Observer article that her Irish Times story was only published "following the normal rigorous legal vetting", in the recent radio interview Holland, under pressure, admitted that she was "relying all the time" on the husband's version of the story.

6 | Lawyer for Savita's Husband Tries to Cover Praveen with False Claim

3.12.12 | The Irish Independent story that reveals the rapidly collapsing media narrative around Savita's death, quotes Praveen's lawyer stating that Praveen never claimed in any interview that a termination would have saved Savita's life.

However, in his interview on RTE's Prime Time, in response to being questioned on this point, Praveen emphatically states that Savita's life would have been saved if she had received a termination.