A doctor serving several life sentences for killing three babies, after failing to abort them, doubts that more states will pass late-term abortion bills like New York and Virginia.
Kermit Gosnell sent an email in early March to producers of the 2018 film, “Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer,” telling them that he wasn’t certain Pennsylvania would change their stance on “Therapeutic Abortion” anytime soon.
“I have doubts that rural conservative PA will liberalize it’s (sic) posture on Therapeutic Abortion in the foreseeable future,” Gosnell wrote.
Gosnell said after he was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 that he would be acquitted.
“It helps that I very strongly believe myself to be innocent of the heinous crimes of which I am accused,” he said. “I sort of understand the circumstances and I continue to feel optimistic of the eventual outcome … the vindication of what I’ve done, why I’ve done it and how — [it] will all become accepted within my lifetime. It’s out of sight and out of my control. But I feel strongly that that will occur.”
There are hints that the state could take some pro-life stances when it comes to babies nearing the end of their development. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) voted in February with Senate Republicans to require the protection of infants that survive the abortion process, but failed to get the bill on the floor for debate.
“I’m a pro-life Democrat, which means I support women and children before and after birth,” Casey said. “I voted in favor of the motion to debate this measure. I will also continue to fight to protect Medicaid, which finances approximately 45 percent of all births in our nation, and funding for Planned Parenthood from far-right attacks.”
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The Democrat-controlled Senate in New Mexico failed to pass HB 51, which would have repealed rules preventing, “untimely termination,” of pregnancies as well as protections for doctors who refuse to perform abortions for moral reasons. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was shocked and disappointed with the decision.
“Health care decisions are the sole province of an individual, her family, her doctor and her faith. Fear of the law has no place in the equation,” Grisham said. “This old, outdated statute criminalizing health care providers is an embarrassment. That removing it was even a debate, much less a difficult vote for some senators, is inexplicable to me.”
But the fight is far from over nationally. Protestors rallied in the Illinois state capitol Wednesday against a series of bills Democrats are trying to pass. One of these bills grants doctors the ability to kill a baby up to its time of birth.
The new wave of late-term bills is making “Gosnell” film producer Phelim McAleer wonder if the doctor would have been punished for his actions in today’s climate.
“(Virginia Gov.) Ralph Northam put Gosnell into a grey area,” McAleer said. “Ralph Northam showed it was OK for a baby to die after a botched abortion.”
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