Protests in Ireland have put Prime Minister Enda Kenny on the spot, with activists there, like those in India, arguing that Halappanavar died because of a theocratic approach to health care. Irish abortion-rights activists point out that, legally, the life of the fetus does not take precedence over the life of the mother in their country, but it does take precedence over the health of the mother – a distinction that American abortion opponents have long sought to replicate in the United States.