It is almost hard to fathom the horror that was occurring inside the Women’s Medical Society in West Philadelphia.
Yesterday authorities alleged murder was routinely happening there. They charged Dr. Kermit Gosnell with eight counts of murder, involving the death of a female patient and seven fetuses. The babies were born alive. Police allege the good doctor soon put an end to that.
District Attorney Seth Williams did not mince words in describing just what the doctor was doing.
He apparently referred to it as “snipping.” The late-term babies were born alive, and then Gosnell would “stick scissors into the back of the baby’s neck and cutting the spinal cord,” according to a massive grand jury presentment.
You can read the entire grand jury report here, but I warn you, it is stomach-turning stuff.
Gosnell now faces eight counts of murder; another 10 people who worked in the office, including the doctor’s wife and an Upper Darby woman, also face charges.
If the filthy, unsanitary conditions found inside the clinic were not revolting enough, if the details of what was done there were not horrific enough, there is the added outrage of how and why this was allowed to go on for so long.
A caveat here: This isn’t about abortion. It’s a hot-button issue. I know that better than anyone.
This is about crimes that were allegedly committed – murders. And apparently allowed to go unchecked for years.
Williams stunningly conceded yesterday that hair salons get more regulation in Pennsylvania than abortion clinics.
The D.A. also admits that while Gosnell was charged in eight cases, he fears there were likely hundreds more that went unchecked because Gosnell apparently kept no records of his work in the clinic.
A house of horrors? Absolutely.
But also another horrible instance of how regulatory agencies in this state simply fail to perform their single highest mission: Protecting citizens from just this kind of abuse.
It’s nice to know the state has such concern for how and where we buy alcohol, but can be so cavalier when it comes to the murder of newborn babies inside a West Philadelphia clinic.
Maybe it’s time for that to change.
Comments
Clinic in Philly has not been inspected by any State official since 1996.
I had to stop reading the Grand Jury report. I almost can't believe what I was seeing.
To steal a quote from a cowboy movie, Silverado: "We're gonna give you a fair trial, followed by a first class hanging."