GUILTY PA - Dr. Kermit Gosnell for killing patient, 7 infants, Philadelphia, 2011

[Tuffy]

More horrific details here on Gosnell and his practice:

http://www.operationrescue.org/arch...horror-highlights-need-for-greater-oversight/

excerpt:
...Gosnell’s troubles actually reach back 38 years when he was involved in what became known as the “super coil fiasco.” To make a statement about abortion, a California abortion activist named Harvey Karman assembled 15 low-income women in their second trimester of pregnancy, and put them on a bus from Chicago to Philadelphia on Mother’s Day weekend, 1972, where Gosnell would conduct experimental “super coil” abortions on them. Gosnell, who was operating an illegal abortion mill at the time, inserted plastic coils invented by Karman into the uteri of the pregnant women. The experiment went awry, and nine of the fifteen women suffered serious complications, including hemorrhage, infections, retained fetal body parts, a perforated uterus, and one hysterectomy.

omg, that paragraph brings tears to my eyes. What kind of monster does experiments on what I imagine to be young women who are quite desperate for help? I'm sure they trusted the 'doctor.'

 

[Tuffy]

I don't think this story should be political at all. This is on a totally different level regarding a s.o.b. who took advantage for a buck. I'm still trying to digest this....

You're right, this isn't political. I have very strong views on abortion, but none of this even applies in this case. This goes way beyond my imagination of inhumane, and can't be compared to other reproductive clinics. This isn't about pro- or anti- abortion at this point, these people are monsters, imo.

Also - I am not blaming the women getting the abortions from him. I feel they are victims as well. Obviously so, in the case of the women who died in his care.

 

[mommy23]

omg, that paragraph brings tears to my eyes. What kind of monster does experiments on what I imagine to be young women who are quite desperate for help? I'm sure they trusted the 'doctor.'

I have never trusted a "doctor" and people are bothered by that all the time! I know so many people that put a lot of trust in any medical professional, while I agree, they usually know more than we do, everyone needs to remember, there are always bad apples in any field. I feel so bad for the women that this man "helped" I don't even know what I am trying to say..... We are at a point in our world that everything needs to be questioned, there have been so many "bad apples" its just disgusting. I am just bothered, and hurt, and frustrated.... I hope that all of these babies, are under the arm of God, and are happy. Not just the 7 he was charged with, but every single one of them. As well as their Mothers, we have no idea if these moms walked in there voluntarily, or if they were forced by the SO's or by family, or whatever. I hope they all recover.

 

[Reality Orlando]

I know two girls, one now 20ish and the other 4 that were born between the 5-6 month state and both are fine, bright, happy girls. Both babies, when born, spent several weeks to months in the hospital before they could come home but they were fighters and come home they did. And they are both doing fine.

This is horrendous.

Salem

My niece was born at a week past 6 months. She was less than 2 lbs. when born. Today she's a very bright, happy 5 year old.

 

[not_my_kids]

I admit I did it to myself, but I should not be reading this at 10 weeks pregnant...or ever, for that matter. I will have nightmares. I will likely cry when the rage wears off.

Before we jump to the conclusion to stone the mothers to death in the streets, try to bear in mind who the mothers were. Of course, I can't speak for all of them, but the ones listed in the documents include:
A seventeen year old girl, who could not reasonably be expected to know the laws regarding abortion.
A fourteen year old girl. Nuff said.
A forty year old woman that spoke virtually no English and had recently arrived in the U.S. from a foreign refugee camp (I won't speculate on how she likely became pregnant.) This is the woman that died.

I'm done wanting to stone the mothers, but I certainly want to kill the doctor. Even if he was crying and trying to get away, I could just chalk it up to reflex. That's what he did over and over and over.

Just sick, very sick. In some cases, I can bring myself to feel some pity for the murderer based on background or some other reason. I can pray for their souls. The only thing I can pray for in this mans case is that his soul is forever tormented.

 

[tlcya]

hugs to you nmk's. This is indeed awful and I agree with you. Because of the location of the clinic, the clientelle it serves is poor, less educated and quite a few are very young. Do I think some clients probably knew full well and participated in the fudging on how far along, you betcha. But uppermost in my mind was that this doctor, served to legitimize in those women's minds what was happening by virtue of his medical license. I blame him. He was the one who took an oath, he was not only amenable to this travesty but the orchestrator of it. He is the one I blame and the one I see most posters blaming.

 

[not_my_kids]

Many of these women who went there were probably well aware that their pregnancy were well past the point of LEGAL termination. That is very probable IMO. Some were probably not, as many of his clientelle are young, uneducated and live in poverty. I do not expect those clients to be aware of the laws as to when exactly is the cut off point for when a legal abortion can be obtained. Those women trust the medical professionals at the clinic to be aware of those regulations and guide their decision making regarding whether abortion is possible and legal.

The problem is, there were NO medical professionals at the clinic. The doctor who was licensed was fudging in the name of the almighty dollar and his staff were completely untrained and unlicensed and uncertified in any capacity of healthcare. His staff was comprised of people off the street who answered an ad or filled out an application. Some of them teenagers for goodness sakes. These untrained staff were practicing medicine on the orders of this "doctor".

This is travesty and tragedy. I am so glad this man has finally been stopped and shut down.

And don't forget , even the doctor in this case wasn't technically a doctor anymore. his license had been suspended since 2001.
ETA: Although I'm sure that's just one more tidbit that he hid from his patients.

 

[tlcya]

wow, I must have missed that license revoked already thing. I misunderstood the articles and reports to mean that he had been disciplined in the past and that his license in another state had been revoked. I will take your word though. Reading that report once was bad enough and in some sections, usually after the descriptions about the indivual babies I must admit to doing some skimming the next few pages after that while my mind realed. I will not go back there.

 

[not_my_kids]

wow, I must have missed that license revoked already thing. I misunderstood the articles and reports to mean that he had been disciplined in the past and that his license in another state had been revoked. I will take your word though. Reading that report once was bad enough and in some sections, usually after the descriptions about the indivual babies I must admit to doing some skimming the next few pages after that while my mind realed. I will not go back there.

Oops, maybe I was wrong. Let me go recheck, so I can edit if I need to.

Okay, this is what the documents say:

Kermit Gosnell was, until the state Board of Medicine suspended his license in
February 2010, a licensed physician.
http://www.phila.gov/districtattorney/PDFs/PresentmentFinalWomensMedical.pdf

The way it was written makes me think that he never regained his license.

Okay, on the third re-read, it appears that the raid and the suspension occurred at roughly the same time, but it doesn't say whether the suspension happened before or after the raid.
I have officially confused myself.

 

[barrysgirl]

I liken this man to be like the monsters that ran the concentration camps. He's no better. What he did is murder. Those babies were alive when he plunged scissors into their necks. For the few moments they experienced life, it was nothing but hell for them. And he performed THOUSANDS of these abortions. He's a monster and so are those monsters that did this with him.

 

[tlcya]

I think the people who worked in the clinic should face some sort of consequence for there participation but really, my worst is for the doc. His staff was just joe and jill blow off the street. He made it seem standard practice, all the other employees there when they started acted as if it was standard practice. Its not like the staff had any special training or anything outside what this monster taught them was how it is done. Can you imagine, believing that things like that go on and are normal medical practice?

 

[not_my_kids]

What bothers me the most was the 15 or 16 year old girl that he had working for him, sometimes until midnight.
Her mother also worked for him and allowed this to happen. I think out of all the office staff, she is the one that deserves the second most punishment.

Think of the guilt that the girl is likely to have as she gets older. They giver her name in documents and articles, although as far as I could tell she is not charged with anything. I understand that she may be an adult now, but now, this will follow her, not only in her head, but also throughout her daily life. I pity her, she had no way of knowing.

 

[Tuffy]

I heard on the radio tonight, that his bail was denied.

 

[JoeFromLB]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11020/1119323-454.stm

A sweeping investigation of a "house of horrors" Philadelphia abortion clinic included the arrest of a man in Mt. Lebanon Wednesday on murder charges.

Detectives from the Allegheny County district attorney's office arrested Steven Massof, 48, at a home on Marlin Drive West in Mt. Lebanon. For the nearly five years that Mr. Massof worked at Women's Medical Society clinic, he posed as a doctor though he did not have a medical license, according to a grand jury report.

In that time, according to the report, Mr. Massof admitted that there were about 100 instances in which he severed the spinal cords of babies who were breathing or had other signs of life.

 

[tlcya]

good gravy. It just keeps getting more horrific with each passing day.

 

[JoeFromLB]

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/loc...ies_met_an_inhumane_end__grand_jury_says.html

IN HIS SQUALID West Philadelphia abortion clinic, Kermit Gosnell had a surefire way of dealing with the unwelcome complication of a live birth: He'd allegedly plunge scissors into the squirming newborn's neck, killing it by severing the spinal cord.

Sometimes, the elderly physician didn't do this right away. Often, he allegedly gave the chore to his unlicensed office staff. One premature infant wiggled around on a counter for 20 minutes before an untrained worker slit his neck - after first playing with him.

Those allegations were among countless bombshells in a 261-page grand-jury report that District Attorney Seth Williams released yesterday.

 

[kgeaux]

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/loc...ies_met_an_inhumane_end__grand_jury_says.html

IN HIS SQUALID West Philadelphia abortion clinic, Kermit Gosnell had a surefire way of dealing with the unwelcome complication of a live birth: He'd allegedly plunge scissors into the squirming newborn's neck, killing it by severing the spinal cord.

Sometimes, the elderly physician didn't do this right away. Often, he allegedly gave the chore to his unlicensed office staff. One premature infant wiggled around on a counter for 20 minutes before an untrained worker slit his neck - after first playing with him.

Those allegations were among countless bombshells in a 261-page grand-jury report that District Attorney Seth Williams released yesterday.

OMG. How depraved would a person have to be to play with a little baby and then plung scissors into his tiny precious little neck?

 

[not_my_kids]

You certainly can't chalk it up to a reflex if you are playing with them right before you kill them...
I swear, even in movie form, this would be too sick to believe, let alone having it actually happen.

 

[Linda7NJ]

So someone please tell me why the women that sought out his services were not charged as well? :waitasec:

 

[fran]

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/loc...ies_met_an_inhumane_end__grand_jury_says.html

IN HIS SQUALID West Philadelphia abortion clinic, Kermit Gosnell had a surefire way of dealing with the unwelcome complication of a live birth: He'd allegedly plunge scissors into the squirming newborn's neck, killing it by severing the spinal cord.

Sometimes, the elderly physician didn't do this right away. Often, he allegedly gave the chore to his unlicensed office staff. One premature infant wiggled around on a counter for 20 minutes before an untrained worker slit his neck - after first playing with him.

Those allegations were among countless bombshells in a 261-page grand-jury report that District Attorney Seth Williams released yesterday.

OMGosh!

I'm stunned!


fran