and this is the first I've heard about it, which is surprising to me as I read quite a bit of news. Interestingly, I do distinctly remember hearing from multiple sources about the re-opening of the abortion clinic where Dr. George Tiller (who was murdered) worked. For me it may be just a coincidence that I never heard about Gosnell.

In any case, this is a horrific story if true. There are a fair number of stories of doctors who are believed to "help along" the death process for terminally ill patients, and I can understand their motives, even when they cross the line. But this one (Kermit Gosnell) is beyond belief.

Her analysis of why this has escaped major media attention is very interesting. In short, the pro-choice community has stood firmly in opposition to this man. The reasons he was able to do what he did appear to be due to lack of services and scare tactics used by the anti-choicers against women trying to access legitimate clinics.

The pro-choice and pro-life advocates might have had reasons for not publicizing this case, although I can't quite see why the pro-life advocates would not be shouting about it.

But beyond that, this is a sensational story with lots of blood and horror and it seems atypical for this not to be big news. I checked CNN, NY Times, and Fox News and they all have stories going back to Jan 2011, so it clearly was reported. A murder of 7+ people would normally be huge, but as mentioned in the article, the infants who were killed did not have names or any life history, so it makes it less compelling.

There were reporters covering it, but it just never got picked up the way one would have expected.

At any rate, I think Posner makes a good case that the reason for this is not media pro-choice bias...not by a long shot.

This issue is not abstract. The Appellant in this case is someone very close to me, decided right on the cusp of Roe.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2768685091028964878&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr

I'm not sure how these two cases are related.

Those events happened in the weks before Roe became law. Her case was dismissed on the ground that she could not sue for dameages because she was a participant in a crime. New York's highst court agreed.

I hope we shall never return to anything close to it.

who would have written this report? It is very lengthy and quite detailed. Maybe the District Attorney?

Pennsylvania has abolished the Grand Jury for all practical purposes except investigations.

After the presentment, the Grand Jury votes to accept and issue the Report or not. I've never heard of a Grand Jury rejecting one.

grand jury will indict a ham sandwich if asked.

My own experience bears this out. I was on a grand jury for a year, twice the usual term because the feds and DA didn't want to have to restart a major Medicare corruption case with a new bunch. IIRC, the jury declined to indict in only a single case.

Since Pennsylvania replaced Grand Juries for criminal offenses with preliminary hearings, its function is now primarily investigative. It recommends that the DA file a Criminal Information rather than indict itself.

When I worked for Legal Aid in NYC we developed a modest Grand Jury practice. In appropriate cases we'd tell the Defendant to testify there. We had a fair number of No True Bills. My favorite was this old man who was fighting with his landlord. He got mad one day and slipped the rent bill under the office door and lit the end that was sticking out. They arrested him for Arson! He testified and in the middle pulled out his vial of blood pressure pills and said the landlord was going to give him a heart attack. The DA started to yell at him to put the pills away and the old man was yelling back at him. It was spectacular. This particular Grand Jury was able to put the whole matter in perspective and declined to indict.

Sorry for the snark.
I consider the whole subject of Gosnell so disagreeable that I don't pursue much of the detail.
Just like I don't read/hear about murders, robberies, etc., though this much worse.

I just read that whole report. I have never read anything as horrible as that in my entire life. It's one of those "once you see/read something you can't unsee/unread it".

Horrible horrible man preying on very vulnerable people. His clinic was located in a very poor part of town. Not only did he do horrible things to these women and their fetuses/viable infants, but he did it for profit. And he charged them ridiculous amounts of money...not that it makes it worse, but it's like, it'd be bad if he did this accidentally. It'd be worse if he did these things purposefully but at low or no cost to help poor women. But he was charging thousands of dollars AND causing permanent damage AND death AND giving them STD's AND committing infanticide....

I don't personally believe in Hell....and I don't personally believe in the death penalty....but gosh, this man and his staff really really push the boundaries for both of them.

Scary.

But why has the media ignored it for the most part?

So nice to see you UTUSN. I hope you have been well and happy.

Reports were made to the PA Board of health as early as 1989. Philadelphia Enquirer reporters have made an incredible movie, 3801.com, on the repeated failures for all these years of PA pols to follow up on this sad issue. April 12 Anderson Cooper did a long story on the horrific grand jury report with Jeffrey Toobin and the Enquirer reporters. They say there were many reasons the MSM has not covered this story, one being it's a business decision. Mostly these were women of color, all very poor, who had no one to speak for them; there were not even records of their names. Most were late-term abortions; they could not even find out how many women died. And abortion activitists on both sides were apparently afraid it would hurt their cause. How can this happen in the 21st century in the richest country in the world? Perhaps it's because we did not think it could happen to our children, just like Sandy Hook.

Here is an article speculating on all the theories about why the press is ignoring this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022676499

days her entire life story, her family details, and were treated to video of her playing her harp.

Funny how Laura Estrada hasn't gotten the "Smart" treatment:

Black, poor, gang-related. The public could care less.

and if he was their only way to save their life, then that's really tragic. He clearly didn't care about women at all.

However, if we're talking about birth defects or abortion on demand, then that's just cruel. We need to consider the baby too.

Juan Martinez: Did you cry when you killed Travis Alexander?

Jodi: (crying) I don't know. You make my brain scramble.



Now, suppose the DA asked Kermit that.

DA: Did you cry when you killed the infant?

What Kermit's response would have been: No, it was work.

This guy is a monster. He should have gotten more coverage than he did. Now, I might be all for putting people away and never letting them be heard of in the media again after the initial exposure, but I'd want that for all monsters.