I have to admit, today is kind of an odd day for me. Every year for the past 5 years on this day I celebrate the birth of my 2nd son, Nathaniel. In that sense, today is a day full of joy and celebration. Unfortunately, today also marks another much sadder milestone. It was on this day 6 years ago that the Philadelphia police and the FBI discovered abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” in Philadelphia.
Gosnell (I personally will never refer to him as “Dr.”) was suspected of selling prescription drugs illegally. However what was found in that building was far worse. Blood stained the floors. A feral cat walked freely through the halls and even in the examination rooms themselves. There were fecal remains in the staff food freezer. A row of jars contained severed feet, including one which a mother who visited that clinic later discovered to be that of her pre-born child.
The unthinkable only became worse. After interviewing employees, investigators learned that since he wasn’t very good at his job, and late term abortions are difficult, Kermit Gosnell took the “easy way out” and employed a tactic called “snipping”. Women who came in for late-term abortions would be induced, live babies would be born, and then Gosnell would kill the baby by using scissors to sever his or her spinal cord. The only consolation (if there is such a thing) is that those babies didn’t suffer as much as the ones he and his staff left struggling in toilets gasping for air.
I confess, I haven’t seen 3801 Lancaster: An American Tragedy which is the movie that was made to expose the horrors of Kermit Gosnell. I have never understood the appeal of the genre of horror movies, and I’m not sure I have the stomach to watch this one. There’s a showing of the movie in Upper Darby in a couple of weeks (tickets can be purchased here) and maybe by then I will gather the strength to attend.
The good news is, Gosnell is in jail and will never have the opportunity to wield those deadly scissors again. The haunting question remains, how many victims could we have saved if state officials had not been so worried about inspections threatening “access” and more concerned about the woman they knew had died there…not to mention the countless pre-born babies lives lost?
So this is the context in which I celebrate my son’s birthday today…knowing while we spoil him with sweets, balloons, and presents, thousands of babies will die today in facilities not so different than Gosnell’s house of horror. I will pray for each of those souls, as well as their mothers living with the guilt of what they did, and the staff at the facility complicit in the horror that went on there.