In a major change in the debate related to the death of a woman in Ireland that abortion activists are using to push legalizing abortion, a newspaper admits that the woman may not have sought an abortion before she died.

An Irish Times reporter admits Savita did not request abortion, according to hospital records.

The pro-life group Personhood USA notes that, in a radio interview on Ireland’s “Coleman at Large” program, Irish Times reporter Kitty Holland admitted the death of Savita Halappanavar may not have been related to Ireland’s abortion laws.

After publishing the article “Woman ‘denied a termination’ dies in hospital”, Holland backpedaled, saying, “I can’t tell for certain — who knows what will come out in that inquiry? They may come back and say… there was no request for termination…”

The group said radio host Coleman found discrepancies in the timeline reported by Holland and the Irish Times. Holland claimed that her article was based on an interview of Savita’s husband, and that his recollection “may be a little muddled.”

“It is shameful that the small faction of abortion fanatics in Ireland have tried to exploit the tragic deaths of Savita and her child to further their cause,” stated Josh Craddock, Personhood USA’s United Nations Liaison. “The damage by the Irish Times article by Kitty Holland has been done, and there are dire consequences – the extremist abortion groups of Ireland are now pushing legislation for unrestricted abortion on demand, against the will of the people.”

Personhood USA contends that physicians worldwide agree that even if an abortion had been requested, Savita’s life could not have been saved by the dangerous procedure. The group said India’s well-respected Dr. Divakar was quoted by The Hindu, stating: “Based on information in the media, in that situation of septicaemia, if the doctors had meddled with the live baby, Savita would have died two days earlier.”

“Ireland is the safest place in the world to have a baby,” added Jennifer Mason, Personhood USA spokesperson. “While the world mourns the death of this young mother and her child, we must be responsible to research the facts. Sensationalist stories printed by the Irish Times have caused widespread panic, and our only recourse is to review the facts and look to more accurate sources for information in the future.”

The Life Institute has said that these are ‘extraordinary admittances’ given the global hysteria raised by the sensationalist reporting of Savita’s death by the Irish Times.

The newspaper’s description of events led to an uproar when it was suggested that Savita had been allowed to die because of Ireland’s ban on abortion, and because of a supposed ‘Catholic ethos’ interfering with necessary medical treatment to save her life.

In the interview with the Coleman at Large programme, Kitty Holland was firstly asked why she wrote in a later article in the Observer that “the fact that Savita had been refused a termination was a factor in her death has yet to be established” when she omitted that caution from the Irish Times story that first broke the story of Savita’s death to the world.

She was then pressed to explain discrepancies in Irish Times reporting as to when Savita was started on antibiotics in Galway University Hospital.

She then said: “All one can surmise is that his recollection of events — the actual timeline and days — may be a little muddled… we only have Praveen and his solicitor’s take on what was in or not in the notes ….we’re relying all the time on their take on what happened… ”

“Oh, I’m not satisfied of anything. I’m satisfied of what he told me, but I await as much as anyone else the inquiry and the findings. I can’t tell for certain — who knows what will come out in that inquiry? They may come back and say she came in with a disease she caught from something outside the hospital before she even arrived in, and there was no request for termination.., ” she told the radio program.

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The pro-life Life Institute responded.

“But Holland and the rest of the Irish and international journalists never referred to any ‘muddled’ recollections or to the possibility that there ‘was not request for a termination’ when abortion campaigners were shrieking that Savita had died because she couldn’t get an abortion,” said Niamh UÍ Bhriain. “This has been the most cynical and deplorable exploitation of a tragedy that I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.”

“At a time when Indian newspapers are printing headlines saying that ‘Ireland Murders Pregnant Indian Dentist’ perhaps it is time for the truth to emerge from the Irish Times,” she added.