Gosnell's Conviction: One Year Later

A racist, greedy, and unrepentant abortionist named Kermit Gosnell was convicted of killing three newborn babies one year ago today. (He was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter). Not only did he slaughter countless innocents -- and leave at least one newborn baby to rot and die in a shoe box -- he profited handsomely from his bloody business practices. Those of us who covered the trial watched in abject horror and frustration as the media read the witness testimony and grisly details with passive indifference. Put simply, it was a story journalists didn’t want to read about, let alone cover.

How many deaths this so-called “doctor” was responsible for can never be accurately determined; God willing he will never escape his prison cell or enjoy life on the outside as a free man. But what concerns me most -- and what should concern all of us -- is what steps are being taken to ensure that these mass atrocities never happen again? To be sure, there have been some legislative successes. But even so progress has been slow at the federal level. Much too slow:

A stalled Senate bill with 40 co-sponsors, called the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would limit abortions in the United States after 20 weeks – the point at which studies have shown the unborn child has the ability to feel pain. The House passed a similar measure in June of last year, and several states have enacted their own version of the law.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) isn’t bringing it to the floor for debate.

I guarantee that unless Senate Republicans recapture majority control of the upper chamber, this bill will languish on the Senate Majority Leader's desk and be forgotten. Nevertheless, Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser is using the anniversary of Dr. Kermit Gosnell's conviction to urge him to take action:

On the one year anniversary of the conviction of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, this afternoon Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser will join Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsey Graham, and other national pro-life leaders to call on Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1670) to the Senate floor for a vote. ...
“A federal law is long overdue,” stated Dannenfelser. “The United States is only one of seven countries to allow abortion on demand at such a late stage of pregnancy. On this of all days, we call on the U.S. Senate to vote on this legislation and make certain children capable of feeling intense pain, as well as their mothers, are protected from abortion at such a very late stage of gestation.”

The U.S. House passed companion legislation in June 2013 by a vote of 228-196. The Senate bill introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has 40 cosponsors.