Ireland’s constitutional ban on abortion should "continue to be cherished and strengthened", according to the Catholic bishops.It comes as the Halappanavar family called for a public inquiry into the pregnant 31-year-old’s death.
The bishops described her death as "a devastating personal tragedy for her husband and family" and expressed sympathy for "the tragic loss of a mother and her baby in these circumstances".
Savita’s husband, Praveen Halappanavar, has claimed his wife, a patient in the University Hospital Galway between Oct 21 and 28, repeatedly requested a termination but was refused on the grounds Ireland was "a Catholic country" and a foetal heartbeat was present.
Yesterday, the bishops said the Church had "never taught that the life of a child in the womb should be preferred to that of a mother" but "by virtue of their common humanity a mother and her unborn baby are both sacred with an equal right to life".
In a statement, they said they "believe in upholding the equal and inalienable right to life of a mother and her unborn child in our laws and medical practice" and "this is a position that should continue to be cherished and strengthened in the interests of mothers and unborn children in Ireland".
The statement comes ahead of tomorrow’s vote on a Dáil motion tabled by Sinn Féin to legislate for the 1992 X case Supreme Court ruling that abortion should be allowed when the life of a mother is at risk.