Kermit Gosnell

I've been hearing a lot about Kermit Gosnell over the last week or so.  At first, I dismissed it all because the articles were all being shared from conservative websites and I didn't have the energy to take up that fight last week.  Eventually, I delved into a few articles, and I've got to say that it's pretty horrifying.

I'll admit, America was a little distracted last week.  Oh wait, the trial started on March 18th?  And hardly anyone has heard about it?  Well...crap.

Ok, before I go any further, I have to tell you that I am absolutely pro-choice.  I in no way, shape, or form feel that abortions should be completely outlawed in this country.  There are situations where the woman feels that she has no other choice--sometimes for monetary reasons, or emotional reasons--and there are situations where proceeding with a pregnancy would endanger the life of the mother, and then there are the heartbreaking situations where a fetus has severe defects that will eventually lead to the demise of the child.  There are legitimate reasons, and I support women who make the difficult choice to terminate a pregnancy.

This is a completely different beast.  I don't support this at all.  Liberal or not, pro-choice or not...this is wrong.  This is horrifying.

In Pennsylvania, the cut-off for late-term abortions is 24 weeks.  First, I take issue with that.  24 weeks is a viable infant.  I mean, that infant, if it survives, will likely have some disabilities.  It will be an incredibly difficult road for the child, with only a 39% rate of survival.  So no matter how pro-choice I am, I don't think that a healthy pregnancy should be terminated at 24 weeks.  Really, you've gotten that far, keep going a few more weeks...if you get to 26 weeks?  The baby has an 80% survival rate.  27 weeks is 90%.  What's another month?

Of course, in the case of potential maternal demise, all bets are off.  The same can be said if the child has a serious defect that will eventually lead to death.  I know that some parents will make that incredibly difficult decision in hopes of sparing their child further pain.

This is the grand jury report.  Fair warning--that includes some pretty gruesome stuff.  There are horrifying pictures and descriptions.  It's also very, very long.  There were some points where I just had to stop reading.  It's...pretty bad.

No matter how pro-choice I am, this entire situation has me feeling sick to my stomach.  I've seen some people (mostly my heavily conservative friends) asking questions about why this guy hasn't received more media coverage.    USA Today and The Atlantic have pieces on that.  Why hasn't this been covered?  Why hasn't there been more outrage over this?  I mean, this guy murdered people, who knows how many.  He murdered women who came to him for procedures and he murdered infants.  I'm sorry, if a baby is capable of breathing on its own, that's murder.

I know it's a delicate case.  The pro-choice crowd doesn't want this nut job to cast a negative light over abortions.  The pro-life crowd wants to use it as a reason to outlaw abortion altogether.  Both of them are missing the damn point.  Just like with other terrible people that do terrible things, Gosnell is to blame in this.  He's the one who made the choice to run his clinic in such a horrifying manner.  He's the one who failed to provide adequate care to the women he saw.  He's the one who brutally murdered infants that were viable by cutting the back of their necks.  This has nothing to do with abortion being right or wrong--this has to do with a sick bastard.

I'm actually having a bit of a difficult time with dealing with this.  I am frustrated with the media for not calling to attention to these atrocities  and I don't understand why they would just sweep it under the rug.  Some news organizations have blamed it on racism.  Most of Gosnells patients were African American women, women in minorities, teenagers, women who were being forced into an abortion by family members, women who didn't speak English...he took advantage of these women, plain and simple.  He took their fear and their ignorance and he used it against them to take their money.

Gosnell is a horrible person.  He is a horrible person, and that is all there is to it.

Are there other clinics like this in the United States?  I'm sure there are.  I am absolutely certain that there are places where women and viable, healthy babies are dying.

Obviously, there needs to be a change.

If I were running the world, I would want to see birth control that was readily available to anyone who wanted it for a reasonable price.  Preferably on a sliding scale.  No one should be without it unless they want to be.  I would like to see optional abortions limited to the first trimester.  After that, they can only be obtained with medical referral in the case of maternal danger or fetal defect.  Women should be educated on alternates, such as adoption, and offered assistance with medical bills if they choose to pursue adoption.  Women should not be guilt tripped, or have to look at their baby on an ultrasound, or treated like they're whores or going to hell for making that choice.

I hope that Gosnell is found guilty on all counts.  I hope they throw the book at him.  He's a horrible man who has done horrible things.  But he is NOT the face of abortion.  And most people who are pro-choice?  Are completely horrified by the things he did.  I mean, there is nothing that he did that is good or right.  There is nothing he did that I agree with.

It's a difficult story to read, and it's a painful situation for a lot of people, particularly for the women who have suffered at his hands.  I hope that this leads to stricter regulations on abortion clinics, and clinics that are actually upheld to these standards.  And more than anything, I hope that this isn't used as an example of what all abortions are like.  I hope this doesn't make abortions even more difficult to be obtained.

Also--24 weeks?  Really?  I'm sorry, but that needs to be changed...