Activists march through Belfast for abortion rights

She died on October 28 from complications arising from a miscarriage.

Doctors reportedly refused an abortion because Ireland was "a Catholic country," delaying treatment by three days and allowing the infections which killed her to spread.

Abortion is illegal both in the Republic of Ireland and in the north and pro-choice campaigners say that without a change in the law more women will die.

The Belfast rally was called by the Alliance for Choice Belfast and the Belfast Feminist Network and was backed by the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NIC-ICTU).

Alliance for Choice's Emma Campbell said that after Ms Halappanavar's death the group "believed more strongly than ever" that Northern Ireland needed parity with Britain's 1967 Abortion Act.

"Legalising abortion is the only way to get a health system that protects women," she said.

Communist Party of Ireland chairwoman Lynda Walker said the Republic needed to change the law as well.

"This tragedy has brought the issue to the public's attention," she said. "The Communist Party and women's organisations welcome the fact that NIC-ICTU is now calling for legal abortion and supporting this action in Belfast."