Kudos to the Philadelphia Grand Jury for seeing past the politics of abortion that could have divided their opinion, and recognizing this case for what it is – the prosecution of a bad doctor delivering dangerous and horribly bad medical care to poor minority women while the negligent Department of Health did nothing to shut him down –
Let us say right up front that we realize this case will be used by those on both sides of the abortion debate. We ourselves cover a spectrum of personal beliefs about the morality of abortion. For us as a criminal grand jury, however, the case is not about that controversy; it is about disregard of the law and disdain for the lives and health of mothers and infants. We find common ground in exposing what happened here, and in recommending measures to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.
That a medical practice such as this could still exist in a city where there are so many well-run, safe facilities offering the full range of reproductive health services is almost beyond belief.
That the Pennsylvania Department of Health would ignore the numerous complaints against this clinic – including one filed by one of Philadelphia’s most reputable adolescent medicine specialists – is criminal.
And if someone at the Department of Health thought they were protecting women’s rights by neglecting to inspect abortion clinics, they got it wrong.
A second reason proffered by DOH attorneys for not licensing abortion clinics –that abortion is “controversial” – is just insulting. Abortion is a legal medical procedure. Any controversy surrounding the issue should not affect how the law is enforced or whether the Department of Health protects the safety of women seeking health care.
We made abortion legal so that it could be safe. Not so that butchers like Gosnell could be allowed to practice.
I hope they put him away for a very, very, very long time.
A very bad doctor…. 🙁
As much as I blame this bad doctor, I also blame our government for giving in to the anti-choice people by continuing to legislate more and more restrictive abortion laws. Poor women who do not have access to free, clean and well-run clinics are forced to save their money for months and end up having late term abortions which are not only dangerous but killing babies.