July 19, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of pro-life activists who were prevented by police from delivering a letter to the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s office this morning demanding the release of the bodies of Kermit Gosnell’s victims for burial, say they are now prepared to engage in civil disobedience to ensure that the babies killed by Gosnell are treated with dignity.
Bryan Kemper of Stand True Ministries and Priests for Life told LifeSiteNews.com that he and several other pro-life leaders are planning a rally and prayer vigil, called The Cry for Dignity, on Sunday Aug. 25, followed by peaceful civil disobedience the following morning.
According to Kemper, at least 25 activists will kneel down in front of the doors of the Medical Examiner’s building on the Monday morning, each holding a sign with the name of one of Gosnell’s victims.
“We will not leave, until they release them, or arrest us,” he said.
When investigators raided Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” clinic in 2010, they were shocked to find the mangled bodies of the babies frozen and stored in a variety of containers, including milk jugs, cat food cans, and even a cherry lime-ade container.
Gosnell kept the bodies of his victims in the clinic after falling behind in his payments to the medical waste company that normally collected them for disposal at a landfill.
In addition to Priests for Life, the Philadelphia Catholic diocese had also put in a request to obtain the remains of the babies. However, so far the Medical Examiner has refused, saying that at some undetermined date the bodies will be cremated and buried.
However, pro-life activists say that's not good enough.
Fr. Pavone told LifeSiteNews.com that his group is planning on holding a national funeral service for the babies, with or without the bodies. However, he added, it “should be happening with the bodies, and not some kind of secret, private burial of cremated remains, as if we’re somehow ashamed of these babies
.”
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About 50 pro-life activists participated in a prayer vigil outside the Medical Examiner’s Office this morning. Despite warning officials ahead of time that they would be hand-delivering a letter requesting the release of the bodies, when the pro-life activists approached the building, staff locked the door.
Kemper said the decision to lock the door took them by surprise, since previously staff had given the go-ahead for them to deliver the letter. The Medical Examiner also called the police.
“Gosnell was convicted of murdering human beings, not medical waste,” Kemper told LifeSiteNews. “These human beings, just like any human being, deserve the dignity of a proper funeral and burial.
“The medical examiner’s office says that anyone can claim those bodies for a funeral. We have papers, we had the legal paper we issued. And they are refusing to even talk to us.”
Also present at this morning’s rally were Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life, Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, and others.
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