Roe Brought Us Gosnell

from the May 14, 2013 eNews issue
http://www.khouse.org (visit our website for a FREE subscription)

---

A Philadelphia abortion doctor was found guilty on Monday of murdering three babies during late-term abortions at a clinic he ran under horrific conditions.

The trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, who ran the now-shuttered Women’s Medical Society Clinic, received two life sentences without parole on Tuesday, and was to face further sentencing as we went to press in the death of the third baby in the case that brought to the fore the question of when life begins.

Gosnell was accused of delivering live babies during late-term abortions and then deliberately severing their spinal cords, sometimes entirely decapitating the infants.

The case was largely ignored in the media who seemed to be afraid of damaging the case for abortions.

The jury heard five weeks of testimony in the case deliberated for an additional 10 days.

Gosnell also was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the case of Karnamaya Mongar, 41, of Virginia, who died from a drug overdose after going to him for an abortion.

He also was found guilty of performing 21 abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy at his clinic, which is against the law in the State of Pennsylvania.

Gosnell’s defense had claimed there was no evidence the babies were alive after they were aborted, but eye witnesses to the abortions testified that the babies were born breathing, moving and making sounds.

In regard to the trial, liberal commentator Roger L. Simon wrote on his blog:

The trial of Dr. Gosnell is a potential time bomb exploding in the conventional liberal narrative on abortion itself. This is about the A-word.

No feeling human being can read this story or watch it on TV without being confronted with the obvious conclusion — like it or not — that abortion is murder.

It may be murder with extenuating circumstances (rape, survival of the mother, etc.) but it is murder nonetheless. Dr. Gosnell — monster though he is — has accidentally shoved that uncomfortable truth in our faces.

The trial of Kermit Gosnell bought into sharp focus the end result of Roe vs. Wade. The talking point that abortions needed to be “safe, legal and rare” now demonstrated that they were only “legal.” In fact, in the Gosnell case, they weren’t even legal.

This is what abortion on command has done to our culture.

The good news is that the Gosnell case and other cases that are being covered in the media seem to be turning public opinion against abortion.

A new poll of voters shows a majority of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong most of the time.

A Rasmussen poll conducted in April 2013 showed that 51% of all voters consider abortion to be morally wrong most of the time. That’s up from an all-time low of 44% in January but more consistent with findings in surveys since March 2006. Just thirty-four percent (34%) view abortion as morally acceptable in most instances. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.

Evidence seems to show that even people who would not identify themselves as pro-life are saying it’s time for a change.

James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal, who has written a comprehensive indictment of the status quo, which he calls “a grave evil that ought to be abolished. It is murderous, if not categorically then at least in its extreme manifestations. Maintaining it,” he goes on to say, “requires an assault on language and logic that has taken on a totalitarian character. And it is politically poisonous.”

Taranto is in the self-described “mushy middle.” On the one hand, he sees a time and a place for legalized abortions. On the other hand, he finds the arguments in Roe v. Wade completely unconvincing.

“A funny thing happens,” he writes, “when you dissent from Roe v. Wade: You come to see that there’s not much else by way of intellectual content to the case for abortion on demand.”

Taranto strikes to the heart of the matter when he writes that abortion is “is irreconcilable with the scientific fact that the difference between zygote and an infant—or, for that matter, an adult—is one of degree: All are human beings at different stages of development.”

“The abortion lobby,” writes Taranto, “opposes restrictions on late-term abortions. But surely at least they agree that infanticide—the killing of a child after birth—is murder. Or do they?”

He then cites testimony given in the Florida House by a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood. When asked what should be done with an infant born alive from a “botched abortion,” the lobbyist replied, “That decision should be between the patient and the health care provider.”

In addition, Taranto notes that the “Journal of Medical Ethics” published a paper that argued for legalized “after-birth abortion,” which is to say, infanticide.

That report, titled “After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?” the authors state:

Abortion is largely accepted even for reasons that do not have anything to do with the fetus’ health. By showing that (1) both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, (2) the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and (3) adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people, the authors argue that what we call ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled.

Taranto says that the Supreme Court, which had hoped a consensus would develop after its 1973 decision legalizing abortion, has instead further polarized the country—locking us in bitter, never-ending conflict.

In 1973 the Supreme Court was right: There is no consensus in the culture about when life begins. God’s revelation in the Bible, however, has spoken to this issue. A thorough examination of His Word reveals that God views life in the womb as one of infinite value and in need of protection. The challenge is that people in most areas of the culture—law, politics, and even religion—refuse to heed God’s clear teaching on this issue.

The Bible clearly establishes God’s view of a person’s pre-natal life:

“The Lord called me from the womb; while I was still in my mother’s body, he pronounced my name … the Lord, who formed you from the womb [to be] his servant” (Isaiah 49:1, 5 ISV)

“I knew you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart for me before you were born; I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5, ISV)

“…he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.” (Luke 1:15, ISV)

“For the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen, I’ve called you, and he has established you with a name, although you have not acknowledged me.” (Isaiah 45:4, ISV)

In Psalm 139, David reviews God’s power in creating life, which he expresses as God weaving him in his mother’s womb. God made his “frame,” his skeleton. Then, in verse 16, he writes, “Your eyes looked upon my embryo, and everything was recorded in your book. The days scheduled for my formation were inscribed, even though not one of them had come yet.” (ISV)

This Psalm teaches us that the divine perspective on life is that it begins at conception. This is God’s view of prenatal life.

It is what ours should be.

Related Links:
  •   Poll Results on Abortion - Gallup
  •   Poll: Majority Say Abortion Morally Wrong Most of the Time - Life News
  •   After-Birth Abortion: Why Should The Baby Live? - Journal of Medical Ethics
  •   From Roe to Gosnell - Wall Street Journal