Life Links 7/22/13

In 2012, a woman who traveled from Ireland to Great Britain for an abortion died in a taxi cab after having an abortion at a Marie Stopes clinic. 

The woman died in January 2012. An inquest has not yet been held into the woman's death as the police investigation is continuing.

The woman's husband, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he was still waiting for answers but was frustrated at the lack of progress.

"I think if this was an Irish or a British woman, we would know what happened to her. But I am still waiting for answers," he told the Irish Times in Dublin.

Ross Douthat on the Texas abortion experiment: 

In the first case, many European countries already have versions of Texas’s late-term abortion ban on the books. France, Germany and Italy all ban abortions after the first trimester, and impose waiting periods as well.

Notably, these nations tend to have lower abortion rates than the United States, and none of them are exactly reactionary dystopias in the style of Margaret Atwood’s “Handmaid’s Tale.” So the European experience suggests that at least some abortion restrictions are compatible with equality and female advancement.

The man in Ireland who claimed his girlfriend was being forced into an abortion by her family has dropped his attempt to get an injunction after his girlfriend said she wasn’t proceeding with the abortion.

Counsel said the woman had sworn a statement in reply to the man's claims. While no details contained in the statement were revealed in open court, counsel said his client was "happy to put faith" in the statement and "matters would continue as at present in relation to the pregnancy".

The couple, who cannot be identified by order of the court, are both foreign nationals and reside in Ireland.

They sat beside each other and held hands during the short hearing.