Let me begin by telling you that I am a 35 year old Irish woman living in Dublin.

To say that Savita Halappanavar's story has struck a chord with millions of Irish women and men here is an understatement.
Our entire nation has been deeply affected by this, ranging from shock and anger to sadness and grief.

Within hours of this story breaking, we marched in our thousands to government buildings to express our outrage.
It was an unbelievable turnout, organized in such a short amount of time, that allowed us to come together as a nation to say 'Never, Ever Again!'

Women, men and children of all ages, ethnicity and backgrounds stood side by side, in unity, to mark one of the darkest days we have experienced as a nation in a long time.
Some expressed shame in their country, some expressed disbelief that something so horrific could happen in this day and age, while others stood quietly in memory of Savita.

As we try to separate the truth from speculation in this case; we are now left with the mighty task of further lobbying so that no other woman ever has to experience this in Ireland.

We have and will continue to march, protest and pressure our government representatives around the country to get them to properly address the issue of legislation around abortion.

It has unfortunately taken Savita's death and such negative international press coverage to finally get our government to listen to us.

Irish women and men will continue to honor Savita through upcoming vigils throughout Ireland and at various international Irish embassies.

Savita's memory will live forever in the hearts and minds of Irish people and we vow to continue pressuring our government so that this can never, ever happen again.

Sandra
Dublin, Ireland

Photograph by David Hall