"Abortion in the Republic of Ireland is illegal unless it occurs as the result of a medical intervention performed to save the life of the mother."

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

Dr Reilly, Minister for Health:
"People have raised questions about a Catholic ethos that is preventing people or inhibiting people from carrying out proper medical treatment as defined by the Medical Council. I have no evidence of that, but I am not going to preclude what a coroner's court will find, and I want to await that independent investigation."

Pro-life Independent Senator Ronan Mullen said he hoped protestors outside the Dáil would not use the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar as an argument for legislating for abortion.

"With greatest respect, I would be very sad if people tried to instrumentalise this tragedy to try and use it for another purpose, namely to legalise abortion, full-stop," he said.

"What we need to be sure of is that doctors know they have a duty to give all necessary medical treatment. It's there in the Medical Council guidelines (and) it's there in the law."

[link to www.irishexaminer.com]