The backstory here is that Kermit Gosnell ran a Women's Health Clinic that was apparently doling out Oxycontin prescriptions illegally. During the drug raid they discoved he also ran a late term abortion business of equal illegality, but much, much greater monstrosity. Basically his MO was to have his untrained staff give sedatives of varying strength to patients, have them deliver the baby, and then he would bury his scissors into the back of their neck and cut the infant's spinal cord. One woman died and many more had infections that had to be fixed at other hospitals later.
Or rather, I should say, the drug raid did not discover his side business. What it did was finally force officials to address his late-term abortion business. Complaints about the filthy, squalid conditions, untrained staff administering anesthesia, and general barbarism of his clinic had been rolling in for nearly three decades and fell on deaf ears at the agencies that were supposed to be monitoring (and more to the point, shutting down) this activity.
Here's an article in the New York Times about it. It is largely a surface level overview.
Here is the Grand Jury's Report (WARNING: Interspersed in some sections are graphic photos of fetal remains found at the site. While they are few in number some are sufficiently shocking that it warrants notice here. [Specifically pages 74, 85, 102, and 115])
The key problems here are twofold: The first is that this activity is in and of itself barberous. Whatever the justification for it, this is the taking of human life and the only reason it is not considered murder proper is we have basically created a law whereby the protections afforded to all human beings are not present while they are still in the womb.
The second is that because this practice is so abhorred, supporters of it go through great lengths of commission and omission to continue it. The lives of the women the proponents of this procedure purport to value were put in direct jeapordy by Gosnell, but because acting upon this would be politically damaging, their suffering was ignored. Whether it was because they believe abortion should be legal on principle regardless of actual outcomes or they didn't want negative press for their big donors, the result is the same. Abortion is not rare, and Gosnell's methodoly was not safe, so all that remains is the procedure's legality.
The Pro Life March in Washington is today. It regularly draws over 100,000 people. This story provides the point the march attempts to drive home. This procedure is neither caring nor compassionaite. Gosnell's methodology to keep his practice legal on paper was to deliberately mislead his patients about the nature of their pregnancy and fabricate ultrasound results to give him a reasonable amount of leeway.
I would hope most abortion facilities are not in the same condition as Gosnell's, but the procedure remains the same. Abortion is a big business that invites all sorts of gruesome activity. If you're wondering why some fetal parts were kept around, its because some scientific labs show a great interest in such remains and the common methodology is to allow them to rent a room for collection of the harvested parts. They can then walk out with whatever was waiting for them, and poof, no sale of human remains was made. The rental fee for the study room is of course exhorbitant, naturally. Here is a price list for such parts.
More common however is simply to dispose of of the biohazardous material is generally illegal ways. (WARNING II: Floating, fully formed body parts can be seen in this video).
Gosnell may be just another monster, but the fact he was enabled for 27 years means this problem goes much, much deeper into the heart of the American culture. We cannot stand for things like this and call ourselves civilized. How many more women would have been infected or died if Gosnell didn't compound his late-term abortion crimes with drug trafficking violations?
Or rather, I should say, the drug raid did not discover his side business. What it did was finally force officials to address his late-term abortion business. Complaints about the filthy, squalid conditions, untrained staff administering anesthesia, and general barbarism of his clinic had been rolling in for nearly three decades and fell on deaf ears at the agencies that were supposed to be monitoring (and more to the point, shutting down) this activity.
Here's an article in the New York Times about it. It is largely a surface level overview.
Here is the Grand Jury's Report (WARNING: Interspersed in some sections are graphic photos of fetal remains found at the site. While they are few in number some are sufficiently shocking that it warrants notice here. [Specifically pages 74, 85, 102, and 115])
The key problems here are twofold: The first is that this activity is in and of itself barberous. Whatever the justification for it, this is the taking of human life and the only reason it is not considered murder proper is we have basically created a law whereby the protections afforded to all human beings are not present while they are still in the womb.
The second is that because this practice is so abhorred, supporters of it go through great lengths of commission and omission to continue it. The lives of the women the proponents of this procedure purport to value were put in direct jeapordy by Gosnell, but because acting upon this would be politically damaging, their suffering was ignored. Whether it was because they believe abortion should be legal on principle regardless of actual outcomes or they didn't want negative press for their big donors, the result is the same. Abortion is not rare, and Gosnell's methodoly was not safe, so all that remains is the procedure's legality.
The Pro Life March in Washington is today. It regularly draws over 100,000 people. This story provides the point the march attempts to drive home. This procedure is neither caring nor compassionaite. Gosnell's methodology to keep his practice legal on paper was to deliberately mislead his patients about the nature of their pregnancy and fabricate ultrasound results to give him a reasonable amount of leeway.
I would hope most abortion facilities are not in the same condition as Gosnell's, but the procedure remains the same. Abortion is a big business that invites all sorts of gruesome activity. If you're wondering why some fetal parts were kept around, its because some scientific labs show a great interest in such remains and the common methodology is to allow them to rent a room for collection of the harvested parts. They can then walk out with whatever was waiting for them, and poof, no sale of human remains was made. The rental fee for the study room is of course exhorbitant, naturally. Here is a price list for such parts.
More common however is simply to dispose of of the biohazardous material is generally illegal ways. (WARNING II: Floating, fully formed body parts can be seen in this video).
Gosnell may be just another monster, but the fact he was enabled for 27 years means this problem goes much, much deeper into the heart of the American culture. We cannot stand for things like this and call ourselves civilized. How many more women would have been infected or died if Gosnell didn't compound his late-term abortion crimes with drug trafficking violations?
