DUBLIN, Ireland — The Irish government removed three doctors Tuesday from roles in its investigation into the death of an ailing woman who was denied an abortion in an Irish hospital, a case that has exposed Ireland to worldwide criticism.
Prime Minister Enda Kenny told lawmakers he hoped the move - barely 24 hours after Ireland unveiled the seven member panel - would allow the woman’s widower to support the probe into why Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist, died Oct. 28 while hospitalized in Galway.
Kenny’s reversal came hours after the husband, Praveen Halappanavar, said he would refuse to talk to the investigators and would not consent to their viewing his wife’s medical records because three of the Galway hospital’s senior doctors had been appointed as investigators.
Halappanavar’s wife was 17 weeks pregnant with what would have been their first child when she was admitted to Galway’s hospital Oct. 21 suffering from severe pain. Doctors quickly established she was miscarrying, with her cervix already dilated and amniotic fluid leaking.
But for three days, the husband said, doctors refused their requests for a termination because the 17-week-old fetus still had a heartbeat.
Front Section, Pages 8 on 11/21/2012