The Dr. Kermit Gosnell abortion trial has begun. Horrific.

[cali]

I'm not going to defend this guy.

A lawyer defending a Philadelphia abortion provider on murder charges accused officials of "an elitist, racist prosecution," as the death-penalty trial opened Monday.

Lawyer Jack McMahon also accused city officials of "a prosecutorial lynching" of his client, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who is black.

Gosnell, 72, is accused of running a rogue clinic that ignored the state ban on third-term abortions and 24-hour waiting periods. Prosecutors say he also maimed desperate, often poor women and teens by letting his untrained staff perform abortions and give anesthesia. And they say he got rich doing it, by performing a high volume of substandard abortions.

<snip>

Staff went along with the routine because they were nearly as desperate as the patients, she said. The two other "doctors" on staff were allegedly medical school graduates without licenses. The employee giving anesthesia was a sixth-grade dropout, while a 15-year-old high school student helped in the surgical and recovery rooms, she said.

<snip>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/kermit-gosnell-pennsylvania-abortion-doctor-murder-trial_n_2899735.html

[kag]

1. People need to know...

that outlawing abortion is what empowers jerks like this to take advantage of desperate women. This guy was ignoring the law in order to enrich himself, and he (and others like him) will prey on anyone desperate enough to pay him. If abortion were completely illegal, he would just have lots more customers lining up at his door to get themselves maimed and possibly killed, and pay top dollar for the favor.

Keeping abortion legal is what will shut down animals like this.

[Freddie]

3. He was a "back alley abortionist"

Even though abortion is legal and not that hard to get in Philly. Took advantage of the desperate and poor; looks like most of his clients were immigrants.
Make abortion illegal and you can multiply Dr. Gosnell's operation by the thousands.

[msanthrope]

4. True--legal or not, Gosnell would be in business. He's utter filth. nt

[msanthrope]

2. It's a 'murder' trial, not an 'abortion' trial. This animal preyed on the poor, and the reason he

got away with it for so long is the stigmatization of abortion services, and that he chose his demographic well.

This is a serial killer, masquerading as a doctor.

[ChazII]

5. Very sad. n/t

[Pterodactyl]

6. Gosnell is a disgusting monster.

And all the horrible things he did, he did for money. It's hard to believe that human beings are capable of such things, but sadly, they are. Disgusting.