posted
Dr. Kermit Gosnell, an abortion doctor in Philidelphia, was arrested last night under 8 counts of murder. Apparently he performed late term abortions on six to eight month old babies by using scissors to sever the spinal cord.
Gosnell faces eight counts of murder in the deaths of a woman following a botched abortion at his office, along with the deaths of seven babies who, prosecutors allege, were born alive following illegal late-term abortions and were then killed with scissors, reports CBS affiliate KYW.
Gosnell "induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord," Williams said.
The grand jury report states that Gosnell's office was filthy; cat litter was apparently found inside the office.
Four of the suspects, some improperly licensed, also face multiple counts of murder for allegedly killing the newborns. All of the suspects are now behind bars after warrants were served overnight.
Authorities went to investigate drug-related complaints at the clinic last year and stumbled on what Williams called a "house of horrors."
"There were bags and bottles holding aborted fetuses were scattered throughout the building," Williams said. "There were jars, lining shelves, with severed feet that he kept for no medical purpose."
I can't imagine how this guy and his workers thought it was ok to take a pair of scissors and sever a viable babies spinal cord, then save parts of the baby in jars and bags.
While I don't agree with abortion, it is not my job to judge. (I'll let God do that, and as long as I don't have to pay for it) I really hope though that Pro-Life groups won't go out there and try to use this as evidence against abortion. You can't blame abortion for this guy's actions.
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
Well, of course they will, Geraine, some of them at least. That's a given. Not making a statement about anyone, it's just politics. It'll happen.
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Blayne Bradley
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posted
You have an obligation through taxes to pay for it because you have the moral and ethical communal responsibility to in some small way make sure hospitals are properly funded and staffed and the staff properly trained and equipped so that abortions, considered a women's right are done safely with no chance of harm to the mother.
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posted
It's worth noting that late-term abortions are illegal in Philadelphia, so this guy actually constitutes a real example of the mostly tired pro-choice "coat-hanger" argument that claims desperate women will be forced to turn to shady, unsafe procedures if given no other alternative.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: You have an obligation through taxes to pay for it because you have the moral and ethical communal responsibility to in some small way make sure hospitals are properly funded and staffed and the staff properly trained and equipped so that abortions, considered a women's right are done safely with no chance of harm to the mother.
Blayne, I think you lack knowledge of how the health care system currently works in the US. I'm sure it will and has been changing, but AFAIK public hospitals do not have tax funded abortion, though I believe there are changes coming through the pipeline in the health care bill.
Rakeesh, I know you are right and it is a shame. They will seize this opportunity to somehow twist this into blaming the pro-choice crowd for the actions of this guy. Politics as usual. Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
Yes, I hope that pro-life groups remember the fact that if the baby is born alive and viable, then it's not an abortion, it's murder.
There are sometimes fair reasons for late term abortions - for example tragic abnormality which has, for whatever reason, not been picked up sooner (such as the baby having anencephaly - a condition which means that the baby has no cerebral hemispheres and will never achieve conciousness, a trauma one poor woman I knew went through at 6 months).
Women and their families who end up going through this should not be made to feel worse by campaigners because of one doctor who has a baby killing fetish - and yes, the horrific nature of this guy's office suggests mental illness to me.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Ever since my son was born, stories like these provoke a much more visceral response from me. Which is a sign that I need to think about it some more until I'm not letting my emotions have such a strong grip on my opinions.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Bella Bee: Yes, I hope that pro-life groups remember the fact that if the baby is born alive and viable, then it's not an abortion, it's murder.
There are sometimes fair reasons for late term abortions - for example tragic abnormality which has, for whatever reason, not been picked up sooner (such as the baby having anencephaly - a condition which means that the baby has no cerebral hemispheres and will never achieve conciousness, a trauma one poor woman I knew went through at 6 months).
Women and their families who end up going through this should not be made to feel worse by campaigners because of one doctor who has a baby killing fetish - and yes, the horrific nature of this guy's office suggests mental illness to me.
I couldn't agree more. There are times when something like this would be best for the baby or mother. If a mother is at risk or if the baby would be deformed or unable to live a full life, then I have no problems with abortion. Late term abortions are understandable in some circumstances as well.
I just can't fathom how this guy, his wife, or his employees slept at night.
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: ... this guy actually constitutes a real example of the mostly tired pro-choice "coat-hanger" argument that claims desperate women will be forced to turn to shady, unsafe procedures if given no other alternative.
Yeah.
I mean, isn't this precisely what one would expect? Given the procedure is illegal there and given the very lucrative nature of the medical profession in the US, you'd basically expect, crudely, two groups of people to provide this service, really idealistic doctors or shady greedy/desperate doctors.
As a cynic, I'd expect the latter to dominate and thats what we probably see here.
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
Hate to say it, but he does give an excellent example of the whole coat-hanger argument. And this is particularly egregious. He's a full blown serial murderer who ran a deranged shop of horrors.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I can't express how sick this makes me and sad for the babies killed (and as far as I know, a full-term infant born alive is a baby to everyone, pro-choice and pro-life alike), and for the women injured.
What makes me furious is there were complaints against this doctor already and nothing was done until they suspected him of dealing drugs. So, women's lives and the malpractice he performed on them are not worth investigating the suspension of his license, but the thought that he might be selling prescription drugs is?
quote:State regulators ignored complaints about him and failed to visit or inspect his clinic since 1993, but no charges were warranted against them, District Attorney Seth Williams said.
Why aren't charges warranted? I think they are warranted!
OK, I'm not saying selling prescriptions is all right or anything...but why did it take that for them to investigate? Why is the malpractice against women and the murder of live-born infants not worth investigating? Seriously? How many women might have avoided injury or how many babies might still be alive if they had investigated this serial killer the first time someone reported it?
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