Gosnell and the 'Ugliness of Abortion'

Dr. Kermit Gosnell was convicted on May 13 of murder at his Philadelphia abortion clinic, but “nothing can bring back the innocent children he killed, or make up for the vulnerable women he exploited,” said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M.Cap., of Philadelphia. In a statement on May 14, the archbishop said: “Gosnell is not an exception. Others just like him run abortion mills throughout our country.” A Philadelphia jury on May 13 found Gosnell guilty of murder in the deaths of three babies born alive during abortions and of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an adult patient. Gosnell, 72, was charged with snipping the spines of babies born alive during illegal late-term abortions. Pennsylvania law prohibits abortions after 24 weeks of gestation. “We need to stop cloaking the ugliness of abortion with misnomers like ‘proper medical coverage’ or ‘choice,’” Archbishop Chaput said. “It’s violence of the most intimate sort, and it needs to end.”