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cal04

(41,505 posts)
Tue Apr 23, 2013, 01:10 PM Apr 2013

Judge drops 3 murder charges against abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell

Source: NBC News

At the urging of the defense, a Philadelphia judge dropped nine charges, including some of the most serious, against an abortion doctor on trial for murder

The charges -- including three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of abuse of a corpse and one count of infanticide -- were dropped Tuesday as Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s defense attorney Jack McMahon began to make his case.

Judge Jeffery Rinehart ruled the judgment of acquittal on those counts -- meaning that he felt there wasn’t enough evidence to bring those to a jury.



Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/23/17879826-judge-drops-3-murder-charges-against-abortion-doctor-kermit-gosnell?lite

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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fasttense

(17,301 posts)
1. The doctor and the nurses are in a jury trial.
Tue Apr 23, 2013, 01:24 PM
Apr 2013

Very few doctors were ever found guilty by a jury, of anything, for performing illegal abortions during the 70s. Almost all juries refused to convict doctors for abortions.

By the way what the hell is an abortion doctor? Is there a special medical school for doctors to learn how to do abortions? It's a specialty that does NOT exist except in the minds of the forced pregnancy religious right crowd.

It's a Stupid headline that shows NBC's bias.

backscatter712

(26,355 posts)
2. Gosnell's not a good guy.
Tue Apr 23, 2013, 01:35 PM
Apr 2013

There are lots of OB/GYN clinics that do abortions that are professional, compassionate, and in general do things right.

Gosnell's was not one of them - his "clinic" was downright disgusting and barbaric. While women rightly should expect clean and professional services, Gosnell would do things like eat between surgical procedures, without washing his hands. His patients suffered from infections. His place was filthy, with blood all over the floor.

And the worst part is that the fetus-fetishists are using Gosnell to broad-brush every abortion clinic in America. Gosnell's more representative of the unscrupulous back-alley "doctors" that women were forced to go to back in the bad old days when abortion was illegal.

uppityperson

(115,674 posts)
3. Generally I agree with not using "abortion doctor" but Gosnell was one. An awful back alley abortion
Tue Apr 23, 2013, 04:48 PM
Apr 2013

He did abortions under appalling conditions and did them very late in pregnancies. What he did, how he did them was grotesque and awful. He should be prosecuted and imprisoned for what he did and realize that this is coming from me with my many yrs history working in reproductive health.

He is one of the reasons we are fighting to keep abortions safe, legal, hygienic. He was performing not just illegal but back alley style abortions and murdering newborns in ways that are totally against any true abortion provider's way of working or ethics.

Read the article

Prosecutors estimated Gosnell ended hundreds of pregnancies by inducing labor and cutting the babies' spinal cords and caused scores of women to suffer infections and permanent internal injuries, but they said they couldn't prosecute more cases because he destroyed files.

onpatrol98

(1,989 posts)
6. This guy was AWFUL!!!
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 10:21 AM
Apr 2013

His services were horrible!!!

I shudder to think of what women suffered with this man. I doubt seriously that he is the only one out there like this. But, they should keep a close eye on this trial if their practices are like his. Sad, sad, sad...

davsand

(13,420 posts)
7. I don't think he's on trial for performing abortions, really.
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 05:15 PM
Apr 2013

From what I've read about this case, his practices were completely outside those of any responsible physician, and they were allowed to continue far too long. What I saw reported in the news (and we ALL know how reliable that is as a source...) indicated that his clinic was filthy dirty, he was performing experiments that were without any foundation in science, and his actions were completely outside accepted medical practices. There had been ongoing complaints over a period of years and he was allowed to continue because there was no oversight of action taken by authorities. Literally, it sounded to me like something out of a horror movie.

Snopes has an excellent entry on this case:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/gosnell.asp


I know a lady on Facebook that is an uber-conservative, and she's been ALL over this case--claiming the liberal media has refused to cover this horror story. I posted a link to the Snopes article at one point and she just KEPT ON posting about this "abortionist baby killer." I agreed with her that he needed to face trial for the butchery he's reported to have performed and she STILL made it sound like what he's been doing is somehow the norm. I finally ended up blocking her from my newsfeed, but I have to admit, it made me realize that as a supporter of choice, I need to be critical of this guy's actions based on the facts rather than on the spin.




Laura

Hekate

(90,202 posts)
11. This is the most sickening thing I have ever read at Snopes
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 03:51 AM
Apr 2013

Gosnell ran a butcher shop.

All around the country in the red states actual women's health care clinics are being shut down for bogus reasons, and put out of business by home-grown terrorists claiming they want to "save the babies."

Where the hell were these people and their legislators, not to mention Dept of Health inspectors, while Gosnell was in fact murdering babies and putting their mothers at grave risk?

I need a shower.

davsand

(13,420 posts)
13. I agree, Hekate. This case is beyond disgusting.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 12:33 PM
Apr 2013

As I was reading that information at Snopes I was feeling almost like they were talking about actions taken in a concentration camp or something done by a serial killer in some awful movie. Truly a horror.

What chilled me even more, however, was the question in my mind that had more of his clients been wealthy white women would that horror have continued as long as it did? I'm not sure I really WANT to know the absolute answer (if that is even possible) because I'm afraid that outrage would far surpass what I'm already feeling.



Laura

Hekate

(90,202 posts)
14. He was a serial killer, taking advantage of poor and ill-informed women
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 02:44 PM
Apr 2013

No one would go there except out of desperation, would they? It's not just wealth that gives you access, it's education, information, knowledge.-- which is exactly what Planned Parenthood exists to provide.

The assholes who strive so hard to shut down every PP clinic will leave back alley butchers a niche to fill. A desperate woman might find someone who knows what they are doing and will wash their hands and instruments -- or she might end up with someone like Gosnell, a criminal who does not care what laws he breaks nor who he hurts. Margaret Sanger knew that a hundred years ago, and all she wanted to do was make contraceptives available so women wouldn't have to get pregnant in the first place if they didn't want to.



yurbud

(39,405 posts)
8. they have to convict this guy of something, but if he was such a cold blooded bastard...
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 06:14 PM
Apr 2013

why didn't keep the babies alive and SELL them? He could have made a hell of a lot more money that way.

So either the charges are a bit fishy (which I doubt), or this guy did it in part for the sadism, which gets back to my first point, they gotta find a way to put him in prison.


 

cali

(114,904 posts)
12. really? He could have made a fortune with minority babies?
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:32 AM
Apr 2013

No, he couldn't. He made a fortune being a butcher and killing babies and maiming and killing women. He's the worst of the worst.

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