Kermit Gosnell

Gosnell.

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Kermit Barron Gosnell (9 February 1941–) was an American abortion "doctor" in a way somewhere between how Timothy McVeigh was an architect and how that same man was a licensed demolisher. He was convicted of numerous heinous crimes against women and children.

The case also highlights the impending disaster for abortion rights and safety of women's healthcare should the GOP keep up the shit they have been pulling since Obama got elected.

Accusations and trial

Gosnell was brought to trial in March of 2013, accused of many gruesome acts, including murdering several babies born outside of the womb, usually by severing their spines with scissors post-birth, and murdering a woman in his care.

There were concerns that his facility was unsanitary, as his office was reportedly often covered in blood, cat urine, and cat feces, and he gave women venereal diseases through improperly cleaned tools. Additionally, he reportedly used dangerous drugs and routinely performed horribly dangerous actions such as "accidentally" severing a women's cervix and colon. Further reports include the presence of cats in the operating theaters and under-trained staffers.

A fuller list of the charges against him can be found in the grand jury's statement. Gosnell's clinic (if we are going to call it that) itself was not being investigated for medical malpractice when this catastrophe was uncovered; rather, the execution of a warrant related to illegal drug sales led the authorities to a pile of dead bodies.

To prove that racist trash can permeate into almost unimaginable places and is not confined to any one group of people, Gosnell went way out of his way to treat white suburban women to a much higher standard than any of his other victims. When asked why, he reportedly said "that's the way it is". Incidentally, Gosnell himself is black.

Concerns and spin

As the story gained more notoriety, several troubling implications were brought to light. Predictably, the anti-abortion side of the argument banged on about how abortion needed to be stopped. Sarah Palin joined in as well, posting a long diatribe on her Facebook. This is ironic because if abortion were to be illegal, this would mean more potential Kermit Gosnells are allowed to crop up as legal, safe, and accessible means to abortion dwindle.

However, just as troubling as the right's knee jerk reactions are the questions of media conduct and of medical professionalism. Several news publications questioned why the event had not received major media coverage until activists started to push for it to gain greater notoriety. Additionally, major concerns have been raised about regulation of abortion clinics in the wake of disaster and another video whose release was most likely timed to coincide with the trial. This is especially concerning given that Gosnell's practice was not inspected in seventeen years.

The convicted's own beliefs

Somewhat strangely for a person whom the jury proclaimed to be a "racketeer", Gosnell himself supports the kind of proper-abortion-clinic availability that would have made his "clinic" lose business.

References

Abortion articles on RationalWiki

Abortion - Abortion doping - History of abortion - Fetus/Fœtus - Crisis pregnancy center - Gonzales v. Carhart - Nuremberg Files - Planned Parenthood - Pro-life - Pro-choice - Reproductive rights - Roe v. Wade - Schlafly, breast cancer and abortion - The Silent Scream - Barnett Slepian