Dr. Kermit Gosnell's Abortion Trial: Why Isn't the Media Covering It?
"Among the relatively few cases that could be specifically documented, one was Baby Boy A. His 17-year-old mother was almost 30 weeks pregnant â€" seven and a half months â€" when labor was induced. An employee estimated his birth weight as approaching six pounds. He was breathing and moving when Dr. Gosnell severed his spine and put the body in a plastic shoebox for disposal."
As was his wont, Dr. Kermit B. Gosnell would try to lighten the mood with a bit joking. Boy A was, he said, "big enough to walk around with me or walk me to the bus stop."
But Boy A will never have that chance. The good doctor saw to that.
Dr. Gosnell was the operator of an abortion mill â€" this was no clinic â€" located in West Philadelphia called the "Women's Medical Society" and set up in 1972. He was a product of the local neighborhood, and he had spent almost four decades running his establishment â€" "giving back" to the community he grew up in.
Of course, he had a peculiar form of charity: "Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure." Gosnell's mill was known for its willingness to carry out late-term abortions â€" the illegal practice (in Pennsylvania) of killing a child after the initial 24 weeks of pregnancy. Indeed, as word spread about the doctor's services, women would come from all around to enjoy the benefit of his service.
"His patients came from several states," the Grand Jury Report notes, "including Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, as well as from Pennsylvania cities outside the Philadelphia area, such as Allentown. He also had many late-term Philadelphia patients because most other local clinics would not perform procedures past 20 weeks."
Despite the popularity, Dr. Gosnell's offices were far from presentable.
"There was blood on the floor," witnesses reported. "A stench of urine filled the air. A flea-infested cat was wandering through the facility, and there were cat feces on the stairs. Semi-conscious women scheduled for abortions were moaning in the waiting room or the recovery room, where they sat on dirty recliners covered with blood-stained blankets."
But despite the awful conditions, the illegal practices, and the innumerable women and children who were both injured and killed as a result of Gosnell's actions, the man was still able to operate for almost 40 years. The reason is a combination of politics, prejudice, and plain negligence.
After approving the Women's Medical Society to open an abortion clinic in 1979, the Pennsylvania Department of Health apparently conducted no site reviews for another 10 years. In both 1992 and 1993, Gosnell's mill was guilty of "numerous violations," but was allowed to stay open on the promise that he would go about fixing them.
"After 1993, however, even that pro forma effort came to an end. Not because of administrative ennui, although there had been plenty. Instead, the Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all. The politics in question were not anti-abortion, but pro. With the change of administration from Governor Casey to Governor Ridge, officials concluded that inspections would be 'putting a barrier up to women' seeking abortions."
And if there is one thing democratic societies hate, it's barriers. The clinic was also a popular site for poorer and minority "customers" to seek abortions â€" a fact which, unfortunately, also tends to draw less attention from officials.
In short, "the reason no one acted is because the women in question were poor and of color, because the victims were infants without identities, and because the subject was the political football of abortion."
So despite countless appeals, complaints, warnings, and deaths, the Gosnell mill continued to operate until February 18, 2010, when an FBI raid of the offices was executed on reports of "illegal prescription activity." What they found, of course, was much worse.
The official trial of Dr. Gosnell opened on March 18 this year, to something of a major media blackout. While it is not surprising that our friends on the left want to avoid this incident, it does occasionally hurt to have such suspicions confirmed. He faces seven counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of "conspiracy, criminal solicitation and violation of a state law" forbidding abortions after 24 weeks.
But to end on a personal note: this is an awful, terrible story. There is no redemption to it. Lives were ended in the most disgraceful of ways. As human beings, we attach meaning to the deaths of loved ones because we see meaning in their lives; so when a life ends, something truly significant is lost. We are even known to bury our pets with love and ceremony: it is a part of the human elevation of being. It is part of our unique place in the world.
Dr. Gosnell saw none of that. He joked as his drove scissors into the backs of baby necks, kept parts of human beings stored away in jars, shoeboxes, or plastic bags piled up in the basement, and let newborns drop into toilets so that they would occasionally clog up the plumbing. He did this for himself â€" his own greed and glee.
So please, share this story and get the word out. Whether you think all abortionists are going to hell or that a child only becomes "human" after the magical barrier of 24 weeks â€" we can all agree that this man is both bad and evil. He is wrong, and as a society, we must not be caught doing nothing.
The more I read about this case, and the "defense" of some of the techniques used, the more my mind is changed on the subject of abortion. This is an ugly business where sliding down the moral slope appears to be quite easy. If we, as a country, are going to allow these medical procedures there should be clear regulation and close monitoring. As in most of the political decisions we discuss here, I would argue that states should decide whether abortions should be legal in their jurisdictions, and the regulations for such activity. I can not ignore this outrage, and all of us should speak out to prevent any reoccurence of such criminal activity.
Dr. Gosnell is a monster. Pro-Choice and Anti-Abortion crowds should both be pushing to see his case is not repeated elsewhere, and that justice is met out. Officials looked the other way, and they should be made to answer for whatever crimes they may have committed.
If you think that outlawing abortions will stop Dr Gosnells, you have it completely backwards. His atrocities are exactly the kind of thing we see when all abortions are illegal.
Both pro-Choicers ignoring or defending this case and anti-abortionists using this case as a power grab for more restrictions and personhood laws have it wrong. We need to look at this case and say that this will never be repeated. We understand that we must work to minimize abortions to the fullest, but at the same time that safe and legal abortions have a role in our world (be it rape, or danger to a mother, or danger to the child, etc.). How can we work to a world of very few abortions, but in the cases with them they are met by both sides with love and understanding?
Bridges,
Thanks for the thoughtful answer. I was beginning to think that no one on this forum cared about this issue. I certainly agree that we should work towards minimizing these procedures. I am now opposed to the Roe v. Wade decision based on a number of issues.
I am not convinced that the Gosnell horror is not more common than we know. Did you see the recent testimony before Congress by a Planned Parenthood official that the birth of a viable baby during an abortion procedure "should be handled as the Mother and her Doctor see fit"? This was a senior official of PP! I understand your not wanting to return to the days of "backroom abortions", but we have quite a problem on our hands with the current system.
IILY,
Nah, there are some criminals who have it coming. I'm good with the death penalty. Gosnell is good evidence of my point.
Try reading the rest of the Book and get back to me.
That's what I thought. :)
Never fear - under Obamacare, those unwanted babies will have a clean, safe place to die. It's what we've come to. Welcome to the world we've created.
I am suddenly looking around, and I find my country is in a bad place and on the wrong road.
Quote from: stephendare on May 06, 2013, 07:56:38 PM
Quote from: NotNow on May 06, 2013, 05:47:35 PM
I am suddenly looking around, and I find my country is in a bad place and on the wrong road.
And it will take a while to cure what Bush and the whole republican establishment did to this amazing country since 1988.
So the party that is the minority most of the time is to blame? Odd reasoning but about par for you.
This butcher has been convicted of three counts of murder...
This is such a horrible crime. I read some of the accounts and just wanted to throw up. Evil does exist.
Convicted and yesterday was on the front page top story of HuffingtonPost CNN and FOXNews I think the media is covering it.
Quote from: JeffreyS on May 14, 2013, 09:57:45 AM
Convicted and yesterday was on the front page top story of HuffingtonPost CNN and FOXNews I think the media is covering it.
It wasnt... apparently they did manage to squeeze it in yesterday.
Most importantly this guy is going to pay.
The best prevention of all abortions and especially the kind of place that Gosnell ran is good, early sex education and easy access to inexpensive birth control. Works real well in other places.
Where it doesn't work well in places like Russia, the abortion rate is much higher than ours and one of the primary methods of birth control. Ugly.
What is not being mentioned is that thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of women seek out the type of service this doctor provided. Across the country, perhaps millions.
Only a fool would believe that outlawing abortions would end them.
Better sex education programs and pregnancy prevention is the answer to reducing unwanted pregnancies, not outlawing abortions.
I am not opposed to sex education (at an appropriate age) or properly dispensed birth control. But I will not support this repugnant practice. The 24th or 26th week is way too late, obviously. The practice needs to be completely reviewed and should be very closely regulated, with very tight restrictions at best. I have no medical training, but it is morally wrong IMHO.
Quote from: NotNow on May 15, 2013, 05:17:34 PM
But I will not support this repugnant practice. The 24th or 26th week is way too late, obviously. The practice needs to be completely reviewed and should be very closely regulated, with very tight restrictions at best.
Nor should you support it. The practice is illegal. Gosnell broke the law, and others looking away allowed him to break the law. This isn't something that is legal and needs to be looked into. A man committed horrible crimes in violation of a law.
Abortion is one of the most restricted and regulated medical procedures in the United States.
Abortions are allowed up to 26 weeks and beyond simply based on the doctor's "opinion" in some states. These practices are happening right now. How is it "restricted" or "regulated" outside of doctors opinion or self policing?
I don't claim to have the answers. I am just sickened by this practice. It is my belief that MILLIONS are being murdered for "convenience".
Quote from: NotNow on May 15, 2013, 09:14:11 PM
Abortions are allowed up to 26 weeks and beyond simply based on the doctor's "opinion" in some states. These practices are happening right now. How is it "restricted" or "regulated" outside of doctors opinion or self policing?
I don't claim to have the answers. I am just sickened by this practice. It is my belief that MILLIONS are being murdered for "convenience".
Pennsylvania has a 24 week ban. 13 States have 24 week bans or earlier. Mandatory counseling, Mandatory ultrasounds, Wait periods, personhood amendments, homicide laws. Beyond that, abortion providers are few and far between, late term abortion providers even more so (see George Tiller)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_the_United_States_by_state
I know that abortion is a hot button and raises a lot of emotions on both sides. But it isn't through irrational emotions that we'll solve anything.
I'm not irrational. I'm disgusted. And embarrassed that this "procedure" is performed more than a million times each year in my country. There needs to be MUCH more restriction and MUCH more regulation...at least.
That's a silly question. Which has nothing to do with the quoted statement.
There is no activity requirement for me to have an opinion on this subject. If you want to limit subject responses to only those who have participated in the activity in question, let me know. Your post numbers will slow way down.
I'm pretty disgusted, in several things. This practice is barbaric. As I stated earlier, I don't claim to have any answers, but what is taking place in this country just feels wrong to me. I have never experienced this practice, and as far as I know neither have my children. I hope we never do.
I will say that I am a strong advocate of adoption, and I would recommend it over this barbaric practice to any woman whose life is not endangered by the pregnancy.
Although I in general approve of certain abortions, especially when the mother's life is at stake, I cannot understand why some or many states allow abortions at such a late date as 24 weeks, a date at which the fetus surely has assumed a considerable number of the life defining attributes, such as consciousness, which will allow it to suffer, just as it could suffer right at birth.
Hell, 24 weeks is six months!! Surely, if abortions are to be, a three month limit would be more appropriate, thereby ensuring that abortions would occur before the magic, and apparently unknown, point of an emerging life, a point after which suffering could be experienced by a living individual.
And surely three months is enough time for any woman to discover her pregnancy, and then to take action if desired.
The idea of suffering is the important thing to me. Most of us do not wish to endure the thought of allowing other individuals to suffer. Placing the limit at three months, instead of the commonly used six month limit, allows more in the population to approve of abortions.
Imagine if the limit was set at eight months. And then compare the thought of it being set at two months. Why approach the obviously inappropriate limit of eight months? Why approach a time when consciousness, and therefore the ability to suffer, begins to emerge? To be safe .. to avoid suffering, good sense causes one to allow abortions, if they are to be, only during the very early stage, which would be at three months or less.
Of course, the best solution, as some have stated, is the prevention of unwanted pregnancies in the first place, by education and contraception.
Quote from: Bridges on May 15, 2013, 09:05:29 PM
Quote from: NotNow on May 15, 2013, 05:17:34 PM
But I will not support this repugnant practice. The 24th or 26th week is way too late, obviously. The practice needs to be completely reviewed and should be very closely regulated, with very tight restrictions at best.
Nor should you support it. The practice is illegal. Gosnell broke the law, and others looking away allowed him to break the law. This isn't something that is legal and needs to be looked into. A man committed horrible crimes in violation of a law.
Abortion is one of the most restricted and regulated medical procedures in the United States.
And yet this guy is probably just the tip of the iceberg... While these "clinics" are "regulated" and inspected... so was Gosnells. Violations were overlooked or "forgiven for decades by bureaucrats who believed a womans right to "choose" overrides the barbarity of this practice...
Gosnells's clinic had not been inspected for fifteen years! So much for regulation. "But there is too much regulation of businesses". So now you see the results of the Randian vision.
Perhaps we are seeing he result of abortion on demand. So much for morality.
No, we are seeing the results of no sex education and limited access to birth control and early abortis ion for poor women.
Prevention is better than abortion and abortion is better than unwanted births. What this man was doing is a result of our broken education and healthcare systems.
DW, how can you justify those statements? No sex ed? Last I heard about $10 Billion dollars annually was going into sex ed. Limited access to birth control? Really? We hand our condoms like candy.
Prevention is better than abortion but I am not convinced that abortion is better than unwanted births. And what this man was doing was killing newborn children.
Abstainence only birth control education doesn't work. Condums require the participation/permission of the male partner and deny the woman the control of her own fertility.
.
What Gosnell was did was murder and he was rightly convicted. Not defending him
Excuse the typos. I'm typing this on a netbook keyboard held on my lap and my hands and fingers are too big.
Quote from: stephendare on May 20, 2013, 03:39:10 PM
Quote from: NotNow on May 20, 2013, 03:38:04 PM
DW, how can you justify those statements? No sex ed? Last I heard about $10 Billion dollars annually was going into sex ed. Limited access to birth control? Really? We hand our condoms like candy.
Prevention is better than abortion but I am not convinced that abortion is better than unwanted births. And what this man was doing was killing newborn children.
Have you actually paid any attention to whats happening in the majority of the country NN?
Do you ever have a point? If you have some argument to make, then please do so.