The Life Institute has said that it has ‘serious concerns’ regarding the appointment of Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran to lead the inquiry into the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, given that Dr Arulkumaran has previously written that countries who restrict abortion should be ‘challenged’.
In a paper published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics in 2009 he also favoured «liberal abortion laws» which make «choice of a termination of pregnancy a right for women».
Professor Arulkumaran wrote that: «Termination of pregnancy is a sensitive issue in many parts of the world because of religious, cultural, social, and traditional beliefs. We would like to challenge and encourage societies and countries with restrictive abortion laws to look at the evidence available in favor of liberal abortions laws and debate the possibility of making the choice of termination of pregnancy a legal right for women.»
Professor Arulkumaran will chair a seven-member investigating team which will examine the clinical care provided to Ms Halappanavar.
Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said that it was a grave error on behalf of the government to appoint someone to the inquiry who had such strong views favouring abortion.
«This inquiry needs to have credibility; it needs to be independent and without agenda, and it is difficult to see how that can be achieved by appointing someone to lead the team who has clear bias in favour of legalising abortion. Professor Arulkumaran has published a paper saying that countries who ban abortion need to be ‘challenged’. This makes him an unsuitable candidate for an inquiry into Savita’s death, and this inquiry deserves the best candidate.»
Ms Uí Bhriain said that if the government wanted the inquiry to have credibility it should immediately move to replace Professor Arulkumaran. «Will this inquiry be used as an opportunity to ‘challenge’ Ireland’s pro-life laws,» she asked. «That would be a shocking abuse of trust and public concern».