108 babies were born alive and left to die following failed abortions in Ireland between 2019 and 2023, according to new data published by the health service.
According to reports, the figures released by Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE), following a parliamentary question asked by Independent Teachta Dála (Member of Parliament) Mattie McGrath, show that 29 babies were born alive after a failed abortion and subsequently died shortly afterwards in 2023, the most recent year for which data were available. There were 23 deaths of this nature in 2022, 14 deaths in 2021, 25 deaths in 2020, and 17 deaths in 2019; a total of 108 across these five years.
Furthermore, four of these babies were more than 24 weeks gestation and/or weighed more than 500g, in addition to not having been diagnosed with a major disability, meaning these babies may have been able to survive outside the womb.