Why Is the Media Apologizing About Kermit Gosnell Coverage?
by Josh Dzieza Apr 12, 2013 8:50 PM EDT
Coverage, or lack thereof, of the Philadelphia abortion doctorÂ’s trial has some critics up in arms. What is the controversy all about? An explainer.
In Philadelphia, Dr. Kermit Gosnell stands accused of gruesome crimes. When police raided his abortion clinic in 2010, they said they found the remains of late-term fetuses he’d allegedly delivered before cutting their spinal cords with scissors. Prosecutors called his abortion clinic a “baby charnel house,” and the 2011 grand-jury report is a deeply disturbing account of alleged murder and abuse. His trial started on March 18, but the story recently exploded onto the national stage, thanks in part to a growing chorus of media self-criticism. Here’s The Daily Beast’s guide to the story and the media controversy.
Just how bad was GosnellÂ’s clinic?
When the FBI raided GosnellÂ’s clinic in 2010, it was looking for evidence that he was selling prescription drugs, but agents said they found an scene of appalling medical neglect. From the grand-jury report:
“There was blood on the floor. A stench of urine filled the air. A flea-infested cat was wandering through the facility, and there were cat feces on the stairs. Semiconscious women scheduled for abortions were moaning in the waiting room or the recovery room, where they sat on dirty recliners covered with blood-stained blankets.”
Agents said there were aborted fetuses everywhere—in the refrigerator, in cat-food containers, in orange juice cartons—and a jar full of severed feet.
What went on there?
Gosnell is accused of providing late-term abortions by inducing labor and then severing the fetus’ spinal cord with scissors. In some cases, the jury report says, the babies were “viable”—that is, they were breathing and moving. The report describes one such case.
His 17-year-old mother was almost 30 weeks pregnant—seven and a half months—when labor was induced. An employee estimated his birth weight as approaching 6 pounds. He was breathing and moving when Dr. Gosnell severed his spine and put the body in a plastic shoebox for disposal. The doctor joked that this baby was so big he could “walk me to the bus stop.”
In Pennsylvania, abortions are illegal after 24 weeks unless theyÂ’re deemed necessary to save the life of the mother. Most doctors donÂ’t perform them after 20 weeks. According to a former employee, GosnellÂ’s clinic had such a bad reputation by 2009 that it began to cater to women who couldnÂ’t get abortions anywhere else because their pregnancies were too far advanced. Many patients came from out of state, and they were overwhelmingly poor women of color. A former employee testified that white patients were taken to the only clean office and treated by Gosnell himself, while black women were drugged by untrained staff in the lobby. He only took cash, and he charged more for bigger babies and additional anesthetic, according to the report.
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