ACTRESS EMMA WATSON has paid tribute to Savita Halappanavar in a letter where she writes about “continuing the fight for reproductive justice” in her memory.

The letter is printed in this month’s Porter magazine.

Today, Watson shared a photograph of the letter, which opens:

Dear Dr Savita Halappanavar, 

You didn’t want to become the face of a movement, you wanted a procedure that would have saved your life. When news of your death broke in 2012, the urgent call to action from Irish activists reverberated around the world – repeal the eighth amendment of the Irish constitution. 

Watson said it was a “great honour” to be asked by Porter to “pay the deepest respect to the legacy of Dr Savita Halappanavar”.

Savita died on 28 October 2012 at University Hospital Galway, while 17 weeks pregnant. The death of the 31-year-old dentist contributed to a rallying cry for changes to Irish law in respect of abortion.

In May of this year, Watson tweeted her support for a Yes vote in the Eighth Amendment referendum. Watson is an advocate on women’s issues and launched the UN’s HeForShe campaign in 2014. 

Watson’s letter says:

I watch the video of you dancing in Galway’s 2011 St Patrick’s Day parade and am moved to tears by your thousand-watt smile and palpable enthusiasm. Sharing their mourning and hope with the world, your family publicly supported the Together for Yes campaign. Celebrating repeal, your father expressed his “gratitude to the people of Ireland”. In reciprocity, I heard Ireland’s ‘repealers’ say that they owe your family a great debt.

In the Porter feature, Watson states that “there is still more to be done” after the Eighth Amendment was repealed, asking people to support abortion funds that provide support to people in Ireland and across the globe.