Go Beyond

Last night I read the 281-page criminal grand jury report concerning Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia doctor and abortion provider who stands accused of the deaths of a 41-year-old Nepalese refugee and seven babies. These deaths occurred at his clinic which, according to the report, smelled of animal urine, had blankets and furniture stained with blood, and had improperly cleaned and non-functioning medical equipment.

But worse, “scattered throughout, in cabinets, in the basement, in a freezer, in jars and bags and plastic jugs, were fetal remains.” And, for some unexplained reason, Gosnell kept and displayed a collection of severed baby feet in jars on a shelf. The grand jury’s report included photos of these and other disturbing images.

Gosnell was the go-to man for late-term abortions. The report states that he “regularly and illegally delivered live, viable, babies in the third trimester of pregnancy — and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors.” He is allegedly responsible for having killed hundreds of viable babies over the years in this same gruesome manner.

One of the most disturbing revelations in the report was that Gosnell’s clinic had not been inspected by regulatory agencies in 17 years. When the National Abortion Federation recently visited Gosnell’s clinic at his invitation, they rejected his application for membership because of the disgusting condition of the clinic. The NAF representative noted that “it was the worst abortion clinic she had ever inspected.”

And yet, she “never told anyone in authority about all the horrible, dangerous things she had seen.” Gosnell operated with impunity. State health officials, the Board of Medicine, and the NAF all failed to address complaints about Gosnell’s operation which included “the unclean, unsterile conditions; the unlicensed workers; the unsupervised sedation; the underage abortion patients; even the over-prescribing of pain pills with high resale value on the street.”

It was not until authorities raided his clinic to investigate reports that he had over-prescribed drugs that they discovered the morbid scope of Gosnell’s house of horrors.

Gosnell, who made millions of dollars over a thirty-year period by performing illegal, late-term abortions, has been charged with eight counts of murder. At his arraignment last month, the 69-year-old doctor was confused by the murder charges. “Is it possible you could explain the seven counts?” he asked. “I understand the one count because of the patient who died but not the others.”

Gosnell’s practices and inability to understand the charges of murdering seven viable babies illustrate the ultimate end of a worldview that does not regard life as sacred. For Gosnell, there is no distinction between abortion and infanticide.

Frances Schaeffer, one of the best Christian minds of the past century, warned that when we disregard life in the womb it isn’t long before we will disregard life outside the womb. When we fail to regard human life as sacred, abortion is only the first stop on the road that eventually leads to infanticide and euthanasia. And, when a “sanctity of life” ethic is replaced by a “quality of life ethic” then even more human beings are in danger, especially handicapped newborns.

Last October I stood under the branches of the killing tree at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center outside of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. During their brief years in power, the Khmer Rouge soldiers took infants from their mothers and swung them by their feet against the trunk of this particular tree and then tossed their lifeless and bloody remains into the adjacent mass grave.

The Khmer Rouge also took babies and tossed them in the air and either shot them or impaled them on the bayonets on their rifles. The killing tree is a sobering reminder of what can ultimately happen to a society when those who have no regard for human life exercise power. When we fail to treat others, including those who are the most vulnerable, with respect and dignity, then we are all in danger of living in a house of horrors.