LONDON: Emma Watson called for action to end restrictive abortion laws on Monday as she paid tribute to the Indian woman whose death helped overturn Ireland’s 35-year ban.

Savita Halappanavar died in 2012 from a septic miscarriage after she was refused a termination in an Irish hospital, sparking a huge outcry that helped galvanise the campaign to legalise abortion in the Catholic country.

In an open letter, Watson credited the 31-year-old dentist with helping to bring about a “historic feminist victory that emboldens the fight for reproductive justice everywhere”. “There is still more work to be done. Free, safe, legal and local abortion care is needed across the globe,” Watson wrote in the letter, published on the fashion website Porter.

Abortion is highly restricted in 125 countries, affecting 42 per cent of women globally, according to research published this year by think-tank the Guttmacher Institute. A total ban on abortion exists in 26 countries. The Irish government is expected to pass laws allowing abortions with no restriction up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy by the end of the year.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2018