Before there was Savita Halappanavar, there was Sheila Hodgers. This woman was literally tortured to death in an Irish hospital in 1983. Hodgers had been diagnosed with cancer and had then become pregnant:

Since the anti-cancer drugs she was taking could harm the foetus, she was stopped from taking them. Hodgers began experiencing severe back pains and could hardly stand. Her husband urged the hospital to induce her pregnancy or perform a Caesarian section but they refused as it would damage the foetus. They also refused painkillers. The hospital had to abide by an alleged “Bishop’s Contract”, a code of ethics drawn up with the Catholic Church. During her time at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Hodgers was attended to by at least seven doctors. Her husband said the only doctor there he trusted was Michael Neary.

According to Brendan Hodgers: “I went to see Sheila one night and she was in absolute agony. She was literally screaming at this stage. I could hear her from the front door of the hospital and she was in a ward on the fourth floor. I saw the sister and she produced a doctor who said nothing that made any sense.

On 17 March 1983, Hodgers gave premature birth in extreme agony to a baby girl, Gemma, who immediately died. Hodgers died two days later from cancer in her neck, spine, legs, liver and ribs.