Ireland’s prime minister says he has received letters from anti-abortion activists calling him a “murderer” as his administration considers including an extremely narrow exception to the country’s total abortion ban. Enda Kenny says that some of the letters have been written in blood.

“I am now being branded by personnel around the country as being a murderer, that I am going to have on my soul the death of 20 million babies,” Kenny said on Wednesday, explaining that he has also received threatening messages. “I’m getting medals, scapulars, plastic fetuses, letters written in blood, telephone calls all over the system, and it’s not confined to me.”

Spurred by the international outrage surrounding the death of Savita Halpannavar — an Indian woman who died after being denied an emergency abortion in an Irish Catholic hospital — Kenny approved legislation in April that would allow women to access abortion services if their life is in danger. On Wednesday, Ireland’s ministers signed off on a completed form of the legislation, and the parliament hopes to enact it before adjourning in July.

But, even though Ireland’s amended abortion law is still incredibly harsh — it doesn’t include any exceptions for rape, incest, or fatal fetal defects, and women’s health advocates caution that it’s only an incredibly small step toward greater reproductive rights — the deeply conservative nation has erupted into controversy. Abortion opponents in Ireland claim that any exceptions whatsoever to the nation’s total abortion ban will pave the way for future legalization efforts. Ireland’s Catholic bishops have urged the government to block the legislation, arguing that allowing dying women to access reproductive care is “not necessary to protect women.”

But the country’s powerful Catholic leaders stand in sharp contrast to public opinion. A recent poll published in the Irish Times found that 89 percent of the population wants legal abortion services to be available in cases where a woman’s life is in danger. And the Irish people favor greater reproductive access than the current legislation provides. Eighty three percent support legal abortion in cases when the fetus won’t be able to survive at birth, 81 percent support legal abortion access for victims of rape and incest, and 78 percent support legal abortion to protect a woman’s health (not just her life).

The Guttmacher Institute has found that restrictive laws banning abortion don’t actually lower abortion rates. Women who need to terminate a pregnancy will find a way to do it regardless of the law, but they may end up risking their health to do so. Women’s health activists in Ireland help educate women about how to travel to other countries in Europe and obtain abortions there, but they could face up to 14 years in prison if they’re caught.

After the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, the 31-year-old woman who died after being denied an abortion in an Irish Catholic hospital, the fight for reproductive rights has taken on a new fervor in Ireland. Activists flooded the streets to declare that Savita’s death won’t be in vain, demanding a policy shift in the socially conservative country’s stringent abortion laws. And now, inspired by the momentum sparked by Savita’s case, pro-choice activists are risking up to 14 years in prison to spread the word about how Irish women can safely travel to Great Britain to obtain an abortion.

Under Ireland’s total abortion ban, women aren’t able to legally terminate a pregnancy unless their lives depend on it — but, as Savita’s case illustrates, doctors in the deeply Catholic country are often wary to provide abortion care even in cases of medical emergency. The rest of Europe allows for much greater reproductive freedom. On average, about 11 Irish women travel to Britain each day to terminate a pregnancy. Activists are risking jail time to disseminate information to those women, giving them more resources to help them access the care they need either abroad or online:

They are targeting cafes, pubs, clubs, gym changing rooms and public toilets with thousands of leaflets giving contact details for British abortion clinics as well as the price of terminations. The literature includes a website where Irish women can buy early abortion pills (effective up to nine weeks of pregnancy) online via womenonweb.org.

Organisers and supporters behind the campaign, which began after Savita Halappanavar’s death in Galway University Hospital last autumn, say they intend to intensify their leaflet blitz after the government approved a bill on Tuesday to allow for strictly limited abortions in Ireland.

Disseminating information on how to buy early abortion pills is illegal in the Republic and under the new legislation those helping to procure an illicit termination risk being jailed for up to 14 years.

The Abortion Support Network (ASN), a Irish charity that helps women access abortion services in Britain, applauded the guerrilla campaign. “The leaflet is a one-stop shop that tells women which local organisations can provide unbiased information about all their options, contact details for clinics in England and information on where to turn to for financial help or access to early medical abortion pills,” one of ASN’s founders, Mara Clarke, told the Guardian. “This information needs to be put into the hands of women and I hope the leaflets find their way into every women’s toilet, changing room and pub in Ireland.”

Ireland is considering legislation that would include clarifying guidelines to help doctors navigate the abortion ban, in an attempt to prevent more women like Savita from being denied the abortion care that could save their lives. But pro-choice activists say that the new bill is an impossibly small step toward greater reproductive rights. It would require a panel of three doctors to unanimously approve a termination for a life-threatening situation. For women who have suicidal thoughts, up to six doctors could end up reviewing her case to ensure she is not somehow cheating the system to obtain an abortion.

The proposed measure also doesn’t include any exceptions for rape, incest, or fatal fetal defects. A group of women who were forced to travel to Britain to obtain an abortion because their fetuses had fatal abnormalities, and therefore would have died shortly after birth, told the Guardian they have been “left out and let down” by the new legislative push.

Savita Halapannavar, the 31-year-old Indian woman who died after being denied an emergency abortion at a Catholic hospital in Ireland, sparked a national conversation about the serious consequences of prohibiting women’s access to reproductive health care. Halapannavar’s husband maintains that her death could have been prevented if hospital officials had intervened earlier to terminate her non-viable fetus. Now, after a two-week review of the coroner’s report, that position has been confirmed by an Irish jury — which has unanimously concluded that poor health care caused Halapannavar’s death.

Under Ireland’s total abortion ban, medical professionals are wary to provide abortion services even when women’s lives may be in danger. Even though the country amended its abortion ban in 1992 to include an exception in life-threatening situations, Irish hospitals don’t always know how far that medical exception can stretch. Doctors are wary of being prosecuted for murder even if they approve a termination for medical reasons.

That’s why Halapannavar’s doctors denied her repeated requests to quickly terminate her pregnancy once she began to miscarry. They weren’t sure it technically fell under the definition of a life-threatening medical emergency, so they required Halapannavar to extend her miscarriage over the next three days, until the fetal heartbeat finally stopped. It was only then that the hospital realized that Halapannavar had developed serious blood poisoning. She passed away three days later from organ failure.

The two-week fact-finding probe into Halapannavar’s case found that the hospital is to blame for failing to effectively diagnose and treat Halapannavar during her stay. During the inquest, the key expert witness — the former head of a major Dublin maternity hospital — said he was “confident” that Halappanavar’s death would have been averted if she had received an abortion one or two days earlier. He also criticized Ireland’s abortion law, explaining that since doctors can’t perform a termination “unless the woman looks like she is going to die,” the policy sets up a Catch-22 where it can already be too late to save the woman by the time doctors finally reach the conclusion that she is in danger.

After the eleven-person jury reached their verdict, the coroner commended Halapannavar’s husband for tirelessly protesting against his wife’s medical treatment. That activism, which helped spark international outrage around Ireland’s harsh abortion law, could actually spur a shift in the country’s policy. The Irish government has agreed to draft a law that will clarify the medical guidelines for legal abortion services — although conservative Catholics in the country are already mobilizing against the measure.

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After months of pressure, the government of Ireland has decided to introduce draft legislation in the Irish Parliament that would, along with new regulations, potentially loosen the country’s sharp restrictions on abortion.

The decision has the potential to be extremely controversial in a land where an effective ban remains in place despite a 1992 ruling by the Irish Supreme Court that abortion is legal in some circumstances. It’s the controversy surrounding what those circumstances entail that will finally be clarified by the government:

In a statement this afternoon, [Irish Health Minister Dr. James] Reilly said he was very conscious of the sensitivities around the issue of abortion. “I know that most people have personal views on this matter. However, the Government is committed to ensuring that the safety of pregnant women in Ireland is maintained and strengthened. We must fulfill our duty of care towards them.

“For that purpose, we will clarify in legislation and regulation what is available by way of treatment to a woman when a pregnancy gives rise to a threat to a woman’s life. We will also clarify what is legal for the professionals who must provide that care while at all times taking full account of the equal right to life of the unborn child.”

Ireland still has a lengthy debate ahead of it in Parliament, where several members of the Prime Minister’s party have already threatened to “vote against any law that liberalises abortion.” Currently Irish law still criminalizes most forms of abortion and does not provide for the procedure to be carried out in cases of rape and incest.

The pressure on the Irish government to act comes from two sources. In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ireland was in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights in their handling of abortion; the government believes that their new action will bring them in line with the Convention’s provisions. More recently, the death of an Indian woman living in Ireland, Savita Halappanavar, in October catalyzed thousands of protesters to take to the streets of Dublin to call for reform. Savita died of blood poisoning following the refusal of a hospital to perform an abortion, citing the unclear amounts of discretion Ireland affords hospitals to make that determination.

An open letter from Irish and American activists is calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to address Ireland’s abortion laws during her visit today and tomorrow.

The renewed look at Ireland’s abortion laws come in the aftermath of the tragic death of an Indian citizen living in Ireland, Savita Halappanavar, due to complications from her pregnancy and the refusal of her hospital to perform an abortion. Ireland maintains some of the strictest abortion laws in the world, but has pledged to reexamine them following global interest in Halappanavar’s story.

Hoping to keep the pressure up on Ireland, a group called Savita’s Laws has issued the letter, open for signature to all on the Internet, lobbying Clinton to speak out:

Otherwise, Ireland will continue to be in clear violation of its international obligations on human rights, despite having committed, during its recent successful campaign for membership of the UN Human Rights Council, to the full promotion of such rights in its domestic policy. Deeming this to be a matter of urgent concern both on an Irish and international scale, we would ask, Madam Secretary, that you might consider addressing this very real and present danger to the lives and health of pregnant women during your visit to Ireland this week. The Irish government must take the right decision to protect the rights of women in Ireland, and it should do so without further delay.

Clinton has spent a large portion of her time at Foggy Bottom crusading for enhancing the rights of girls and women globally. In 2011, Clinton told Newsweek, “I believe that the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century.” Even before her stint as Secretary of State, Clinton was well-known for her declaration that “women’s rights are human rights” during her time as First Lady.

Clinton, who will be leaving the State Department shortly, maintains a stable of goodwill in Ireland, due to her husband’s role in negotiating a peace treaty ending violent struggle in the north. Whether she will use this position to speak out while in Dublin remains to be seen.

An estimated 10,000 activists flooded the streets of Dublin on Saturday to protest Ireland’s stringent abortion policies. The predominantly Catholic country has a total ban on all abortion services, with a narrow exception in cases where a pregnancy may threaten a woman’s life. But the recent death of Savita Halappanavar — the 31-year-old Indian woman who died of blood poisoning after an Irish hospital refused to terminate her pregnancy — highlights the fact that women in Ireland struggle to access reproductive health services even when their lives may be at stake. Halappanavar’s tragic story is quickly becoming an international controversy, prompting the Irish government to promise to reexamine its abortion policy.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets today with signs and banners bearing Halappanavar’s image, vowing that the tragic events of her death will “never again” happen in their country (all images via Broadsheet):

The tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian woman living in Ireland, has the potential of finally causing a shift in Irish policy regarding abortion. Abortion, a subject still rife with taboo in Ireland, has been brought to the forefront of policy debate following the decision of an Irish hospital to refuse to terminate Halappanavar’s pregnancy despite repeated requests. That refusal ultimately led to her passing from blood poisoning.

Following thousands of protesters taking to the streets of Dublin and other cities, the Irish government has vowed to address the issue, although it remains vague about exactly what steps will be taken:

“I was deeply disturbed yesterday by what Savita’s husband said. I don’t think as a country we should allow a situation where women’s rights are put at risk in this way,” deputy prime minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament on Thursday.

“There is no question of equivocation. We need to bring legal clarity to this issue and that is what we are going to do.”

Irish law does not specify under what circumstances the threat to the life or health of the mother is high enough to justify a termination, leaving doctors to decide. Critics say this means doctors’ personal beliefs can play a role.

Any change of policy likewise faces an uphill climb in final passage, as the current governing coalition is made up of both center-left and socially conservative politicians.

This possible shift is taking shape due to both domestic and international pressures. India is taking the death of one of its citizens extremely seriously, potentially opening a rift between the two countries. The Indian Foreign Office summoned the Irish Ambassador on Friday to express the “concern and angst in Indian society about the untimely and tragic death.” Halappanavar’s parents have likewise taken to Indian television to condemn Irish abortion laws. “In an attempt to save a four-month-old fetus they killed my … daughter. How is that fair you tell me?” Mrs. Halappanavar’s mother asked in an interview.

However, it is unlikely that any shift in Irish policy will be enough to align them with India. Ireland possesses one of the world’s most restrictive set of abortion laws, while India has one of the most liberal:

Policy permits abortion in cases:	India	Ireland
To save the life of a woman	Yes	Yes
To preserve physical health	Yes	No
To preserve mental health	Yes	No
Rape or incest	Yes	No
Fetal impairment	Yes	No
Economic or social reasons	Yes	No
Available on request	No	No

Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat

Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian woman living in Ireland, went to the hospital when she first began to miscarry — but thanks to Ireland’s stringent abortion ban, medical professionals denied her repeated requests to quickly terminate the pregnancy because they could still detect a fetal heartbeat. The Irish hospital required her to extend her miscarriage over three days until the fetus’ heartbeat officially stopped, and by that time, Halappanavar had developed serious blood poisoning. She passed away just a few days later.

Halappanavar’s death helps highlight the tragic effect of Ireland’s stringent abortion ban, but the impact of that type of restrictive legislation isn’t just limited to that country. In fact, lawmakers in Ohio are quietly pushing extreme anti-abortion legislation that would subject the women in that state to a situation incredibly similar to the one in Ireland.

During this year’s lame duck session, Ohio legislators are planning to revive HB 125, a so-called “heartbeat” bill that would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected — which can first occur as early as five or six weeks, before many women may even know they’re pregnant. The proposed legislation represents the most restrictive abortion ban in the United States. If HB 125 is passed, it would criminalize all abortions after the emergence of a fetal heartbeat without allowing even the narrowest exceptions in potential cases of rape, incest, or the mental health of the woman.

Even if Ohio’s bill includes some kind of provision that would allow women to seek abortions in life-threatening situations, Halappanavar’s death points to the fact that health risks aren’t always immediately apparent. A 1992 Supreme Court ruling in Ireland amended the country’s abortion ban to include an exception in cases where the woman’s life is in danger, but Irish hospitals don’t always know how far that medical exception can stretch. They are often reluctant to provide women with abortion services unless the situation is very clearly life-threatening — and for women like Halappanavar, that can already be too late.

And in cases where the fetus is not expected to survive — when women like Halappanavar are undergoing a miscarriage, or when doctors discover fatal fetal defects — anti-abortion legislation is often murky, even in this country. In Arizona, where a stringent abortion ban outlaws the procedure after just 20 weeks, women who discover fatal defects that will not allow their fetus to survive are forced to carry the fetus to term anyway.