GOP House Members on Gosnell Abortion-Murder Convictions: ‘There Are Kermit Gosnells All Over America’

(CNSNews.com) – Pro-life members of Congress applauded the conviction Monday of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell on three counts of murder, but cautioned that more needs to be done because “there are Kermit Gosnells all over America.”

Gosnell was found guilty of the brutal killing of three babies who survived late-term abortions only to have their spinal cords snipped with scissors. He was also found guilty on manslaughter in the death of a woman, and guilty of more than 200 other related criminal charges.
Republican House members reacted to the news:

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.): “Today is a sad day. It has now been proven that Kermit Gosnell put a price tag on innocent human life and perpetrated merciless violence against women and babies.  Gosnell’s conviction is not only an indictment of the abortion industry at large, but it’s also a wakeup call for Congress to re-evaluate the inhuman conditions and the late-term abortion attitudes and practices which have recently come to light in many states. No one -- not the President, Planned Parenthood, nor the mainstream media -- can say Congress shouldn’t move forward with prompt legislation to protect women and children from further Gosnell-like violence and destruction.”

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) (CNSNews.com photo/Penny Starr)

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.): “With today’s murder convictions of Dr. Gosnell, we’ve got to encourage Americans to ask—how different really is Gosnell’s House of Horrors from abortions that occur in clinics throughout the country? Not much, not much at all.

“There are Kermit Gosnells all over America—predators, child abusers, exploiters of women.  Some abortionists may have cleaner sheets than Gosnell, and better sterilized equipment and better trained accomplices, but what they do—what Gosnell did—kill babies and hurt women—is the same. “Will Americans ever be told the horrifying details as to how—and how often—abortionists dismember, decapitate, and chemically poison innocent babies?

“Where is the outrage, over the 55 million child victims who have been brutally killed by abortion over the last 40 years, and the millions of women who have been hurt physically, emotionally, psychologically?

“And why the appalling lack of compassion, why the empathy deficit for the victims, women and children by so many, including and especially President Obama?  Women and Children Deserve better.”

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.): “I applaud the jury’s decision to convict abortionist Kermit Gosnell on three counts of first degree murder. As a mother, a nurse, and an outspoken pro-life advocate in Congress, my heart breaks for the victims and their families who have been hurt by Gosnell, and I hope this conviction brings some small comfort to the families of Gosnell’s many victims. Additionally, I join Americans across the country in wishing for a speedy sentencing phase of this trial so that Gosnell will immediately experience the full weight of justice for what he has done.

“Gosnell’s horrific crimes stand as a stark reminder that there is no such thing as a safe abortion. While Gosnell’s actions were especially egregious, we should remember that this is what happens each time an abortion is performed—a beating heart is stopped and an innocent human life is ended. Gosnell’s crimes also are incredibly revealing about the true nature of the big abortion industry that profits daily off the murder of children and willfully even sacrifices women’s health at the altar of choice. From the work of organizations, such as Live Action and others, it is clear that Gosnell’s house of horrors ‘clinic’ is not alone; similar clinics exist across the country and are failing to protect women’s health by neglecting to follow the most basic health standards.

"I will continue to work with my colleagues in the House to do everything I can to help ensure that federal and state officials are protecting women’s health by investigating how abortion clinics are maintained and ensuring that regular oversight measures are upheld and health laws are enforced.”

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.): “Justice has been served today but it comes too late for the woman Kermit Gosnell killed in his clinic and the newborn babies who survived his abortions only to be murdered at his hands.  The crimes Gosnell committed against the most innocent and vulnerable among us are unconscionable and have shocked us to our core.  We must ensure this never happens again.

Rep. Bob Goodlatter (R-Va.)

“What is equally troubling about this case is that the grand jury report found that numerous state and city regulatory agencies in Pennsylvania failed to monitor abortion facilities for political reasons.  Federal, state, and local governments cannot idly stand by while such horrific crimes against humanity happen.  The House Judiciary Committee is in the process of gathering information from state attorneys general that will help Congress determine how it might help prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.”

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.): “The horrific nature of the Gosnell trial shows the long fight we have to protect the innocent lives of the unborn.  The murderous actions committed by Kermit Gosnell have brought to light the brutality of the more than one million abortion procedures that take the lives of unborn children every year.  I pray that today’s conviction of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell may serve as some sense of justice for the families of the innocent babies he murdered.”

Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio): “Today, Kermit Gosnell was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder. Gosnell conducted barbaric practices: abusing women and murdering babies both unborn and born alive. While a small bit of justice was achieved today, the tragic reality is that similarly deadly actions are taken against unborn children every day. I can only hope that this trial has brought awareness to the horrors being committed by the abortion industry.”

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.): “Justice was delivered in Philadelphia today. After years of inflicting harm on untold innocents, abortionist Kermit Gosnell will rightly be held accountable for the unspeakable atrocities he committed at his gruesome clinic. I once again extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of the defenders of human life across America who made sure this story was not swept aside but fully told and properly understood. May it shine a light on similar acts of violence against God's children wherever they may be taking place, and may it serve as a poignant reminder of what we risk when our society undervalues the sanctity of human life.”

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio): "While I am satisfied that justice was served in this particular case, I am saddened for all the women and newborn babies victimized by Kermit Gosnell.  Also, I am troubled by evidence raised at the trial that suggests Gosnell’s horrific ‘snipping’ procedure may have been performed on hundreds of other newborn infants.
“In 2002, when we enacted the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act - legislation which recognizes babies born alive as persons under federal law - we were assured by abortion supporters that live-birth abortions were extremely rare.  The evidence presented in the Gosnell trial suggests the practice may be far more common than we know."

Rep. John Fleming (R-La).

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.): “About one-million babies are aborted each year in the United States. Today, justice was served for three who were brutally killed after they were born alive. Tragically, we can’t begin to imagine how many other babies were killed by Gosnell, and how many women suffered because of his callous and horrific actions. As a Planned Parenthood representative in Florida indicated in April, the abortion industry seems to want to live by its own rules when it comes to babies born alive in botched abortions.

“There are countless more babies who should be alive today, but whose lives were cut short in similar late-term abortion procedures. The Gosnell case should provoke a national awakening on the lengths some will go to end an unwanted life.”

Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.): “Today’s verdict brings justice for three of Gosnell’s countless victims. This trial has stripped away society’s convenient euphemisms and exposed abortion’s ugly truth: abortion is not safe and it is not rare. Now that the jury has delivered its verdict, the American people must come together for an honest conversation about abortion and Congress must exercise its powers of oversight to prevent similar atrocities."

Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.): “Today’s first degree murder conviction of Dr. Gosnell shows there is hope.  Hope that we can change our culture that accepts such actions.  Hope that we can save little babies that bring so much love and joy to our lives.  The jury members put politics aside and came to the conclusion that Dr. Gosnell had murdered these innocent babies.  It is my hope that folks educate themselves on what Dr. Gosnell was doing and fight in their communities to save the lives of so many precious babies.”

Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.): “Every life has value and for every life ended at the hands of Kermit Gosnell, a butcher who masqueraded as a ‘women’s’ health care professional,’ there should be justice. Today’s verdict, while limited in its scope, delivers some justice for each of Gosnell’s victims – every woman who trusted him in their vulnerability and every child whose life was callously and brutally ended at his direction.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) (AP Photo)

“We should all ponder that while multiple murder charges against Kermit Gosnell were up for debate, no one ever questioned whether Gosnell’s intent was to kill each of his infant victims. Of course their death was his intent – such is the case with all abortions. But in our justice system premeditating and exacting the demise of babies is only a crime if a child is fully outside the womb. We would do well as a society to consider what deciding murder based upon geographic technicalities reveals about our collective conscious. “As long as the tragedy of elective abortion is legal in this country, there must be oversight, and there must be rigorous scrutiny – regardless of whether popular culture, special interests, or government considers the turf politically sacrosanct. In Philadelphia, evil dressed in a white coat went unchecked for years and women and children paid the price for that abdication.”

Maryland Approved Initial License for Abortion Clinic Weeks After Woman Died From 33-Week Abortion 

 

(CNSNews.com) -- In a letter dated one month and one day after 29-year-old Jennifer McKenna Morbelli died from complications following the termination of her 33-week pregnancy, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene approved a surgical abortion license for Germantown Reproduction Health Services.

That clinic is where Dr. LeRoy Carhart provides late-term abortions, including the four-day abortion procedure that killed Morbelli’s unborn child by lethal injection through the mother’s abdomen and drug-induced labor to deliver the dead baby.

The March 8, 2013 letter, provided to CNSNews.com by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), is addressed to Maryland Senate and House officials to provide “an update on regulation of surgical abortion facilities” in the state. (See DHMH March 8 letter.pdf)

The letter states that in July 2012 the department published rules “that for the first time made Maryland surgical abortion facilities subject to licensure.” Those licenses are issued by the DHMH and implemented by the DHMH’s Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ).

The letter states that “over the past several weeks” the department had begun “initial regulatory surveys” – or inspections – that include a review of medical records, review of policies and procedures, interviews of patients and staff, observation, and other information collection “as needed.”

The letter states that of the 16 surgical abortion facilities operating in Maryland, 13 “were found to be free of deficiencies that presented an immediate and serious threat to the health and safety of patients.”

Dori Henry, director of communications for DHMH, confirmed via e-mail that Germantown Reproductive Health Services was one of the 13 that passed initial inspection. (The three clinics that did not pass inspection were run by Associates in OB/GYN Care, LLC, and their licenses were suspended “[ending the correction of deficiencies.”)

The letter concludes by stating, “/under the regulations, surgical abortion facilities that either fail to seek licensure or fail to meet acceptable standards will not be permitted to operate in Maryland. We will continue to provide updates to the legislative committees as this new regulatory program moves forward.”
When asked earlier by CNSNews.com whether the DMHM was investigating Morbelli’s death, Dori Henry said via email: “As we have confirmed earlier, OHCQ is investigating a complaint about this reported incident, and is also conducting a survey as part of licensure.”

“The process is not yet complete,” Henry said. “We expect to have an update in the next few weeks.”
According to a June 22 memorandum to the directors of surgical abortion centers from Nancy Grimm, the director of OHCQ,  “a surgical abortion facility means an outpatient facility that provides surgical termination of pregnancy as a regular service ….”

A Feb. 13, 2013 memorandum issued by the DHMH includes an estimate of eight weeks to “complete inspections at all abortion facilities that have applied for or obtained an initial license, and it will continue to evaluate and investigate complaints.”

Following Morbelli’s death, Maryland’s chief medical examiner released an initial cause of death report to news outlets citing  “amniotic fluid embolism following termination of pregnancy” and “disseminated intravascular coagulation.”

The latter, according to WebMd, is when “the body's natural ability to regulate blood clotting does not function properly. This causes the blood's clotting cells to clump together and clog small blood vessels throughout the body. This excessive clotting damages organs, destroys blood cells, and depletes the supply of platelets and other clotting factors so that the blood is no longer able to clot normally. This often causes widespread bleeding, both internally and externally.”

Bruce Goldfarb, spokesman for the Medical Examiner’s Office,  initially confirmed the mother’s cause of death to news outlets.  But when asked by CNSNews.com, Goldfarb said because Morbelli’s death was still being investigated, the results of her autopsy were “no longer releasable.”

Operation Rescue has filed a complaint with the Maryland Board of Physicians seeking revocation of Carhart’s medical license.

Staff at Germantown Reproduction Health Services confirmed to CNSNews.com that Carhart is still practicing at the clinic.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/maryland-approved-initial-license-abortion-clinic-weeks-after-woman-died-33-week