In 2012, Savita died because the doctors and nurses in the Catholic Hospital where she was being treated for a 17-week gestation miscarriage, or spontaneous abortion, refused to remove the dying, non-viable foetus from her body. There “was still a heartbeat” so they waited until it was too late and she died of sepsis.

The loss of this human life caused significant protests in Ireland and eventually resulted in a lifting of the severe restrictions that were in place.

Abortion in Ireland is still limited, but there has been a shift towards deregulation, which is a small silver lining after such an egregious murder.