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Abortonist Kermit Gosnell convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life

FreakyLocz14

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Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of first-degree murder for severing the spinal cords of infants whom survived late-term abortions yesterday. He agreed to a life in prison sentence to avoid the possibility of receiving the death penalty today.

I personally believe that we should be prosecuting abortionists more frequently. While we can't outright outlaw abortion, we can keep those who perform them under immense pressure. We should also pass parental consent laws, waiting period laws, mandatory ultrasound laws, and informed consent laws to make abortions rare.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/14/convicted-pennsylvania-abortion-doctor-gets-life-in-prison/
 
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Or we could work towards repealing any of those laws that are still in place today in quite a few states and work towards making the world a much less miserable place.
Sure, his crimes are atrocious and his punishment well-deserved, but I have a pretty good idea about why his clients chose to have unsafe late-term abortions in the first place.
 
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Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of first-degree murder for severing the spinal cords of infants whom survived late-term abortions yesterday. He agreed to to life in prison sentence to avoid the possibility of receiving the death penalty today.

I personally believe that we should be prosecuting abortionists more frequently. While we can't outright outlaw abortion, we can keep those who perform them under immense pressure. We should also pass parental consent laws, waiting period laws, mandatory ultrasound laws, and informed consent laws to make abortions rare.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/14/convicted-pennsylvania-abortion-doctor-gets-life-in-prison/

The law states that undue burden must not be placed on women regarding abortion.

I can see how waiting period laws (the S.C. upheld) are relatively non-burdensome, and the same with parental consent, at ages younger than 16 if I remember correctly.

Though, consent from the father and mandatory ultrasounds are more burdensome as consent of father could take weeks if not months. Though, ultrasounds, meh, that one was not defined either way by the court since it walking a fine line. A woman sometimes cannot obtain an abortion due to undue burdens. Abortions are legal because of women's privacy rights and all, but more so the consequences of not allowing abortion have a negative impact on all of society. First, women will perform abortions in unsanitary conditions, as observed in the pre Roe v Wade era.

The costs on society to cover infections of thousands of women each year is not worth the benefit of preserving fetuses. Second, the saved fetuses of unwanted children are a burden to society and often live less satisfactory lives, as parents that do not want children are statistically more likely to neglect or abuse children or not be able to afford proper care since most people who have abortions are impoverished, and society picks up the tab for foster care, healthcare costs, or their criminal behavior afterward (unwanted children are more likely to commit crimes.) Again, this is all statistically speaking, and the effect relate to all of society, not just an individual.

Further, severing the spinal cords of infants is equivalent to murder, abortion is not in technical or legal terms murder since fetuses are not humans. Therefore, one doctor that abuses the practice of abortion, and instead, committing murder and not following safety guidelines for the women should be strictly dealt with, and his conviction should not influence a change in abortion policy that serves a state purpose since it would only increase the instances of these sorts of abortion malpractices as women resort to illegal an unregulated practices when legal abortions are hard if not impossible to obtain. Thus, the proposals to restrict abortion would actually be counterproductive.
 

Oryx

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He was not prosecuted for performing abortions. You're clouding the issue by trying to make it seem that way, Freaky. Kermit Gosnell is only relevant to abortion providers in a question of why would someone use his obviously illegal services - if, as you would claim, legal abortions are so unburdensome and need more restrictions and even then they won't be a burden, then why are women taking the risk of going to this place that is so terrible? He worked in Philadelphia; there has to be at least one abortion provider in the vicinity of such a big city that was legal and safe. Maybe what he offered was cheap or he offered his services to women without these hoops they have to jump through, so they died getting an abortion to avoid their parents finding out or to not have to contact the rapist father that they didn't report. These are all relevant questions in the wake of that horror show that we need to be asking. The question of why women went there is essential in unraveling what kinds of restrictions create unsafe worlds for women, where they are forced to either carry a child they don't want to term or risk their health with an unsafe abortion.

Actually there is one more relevant point. The news article I read said it had been reported multiple times and no one did a thing about it. The cops in that area have something to answer for.
 
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Except that he wasn't performing abortions. He murdered viable fetuses (keyword: viable) after 24 weeks - delivered/removed them and snipped their spinal cords with scissors. That's not abortion.

And for somebody so obsessed with civil liberties and a less intrusive government, did you see what you wrote at the end of your OP? Forced ultrasounds? That's a gross misstep of government power and you know it.
 

Mr. X

It's... kinda effective?
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Thats the thing though...

Republicans, well, conservatives believe in small government - Unless you were born with a vagina. Then they want to force government down your throat. Or... yeah, better not go with that one.

Edit
George Carlin puts it best, nice and simple.
"Pro-life...pro-life..They're not pro-life, they are anti-woman. Simple as it gets! They don't like 'em!"

Actually, better not put that up. If your intrested in his piece about Abortion, google this - George Carlin: Pro Life, Abortion, And The Sanctity Of Life
 
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Belldandy

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This is disgusting :( I for one believe that a foetus is human once conception occurs. Anything that will eventually be born as a human is a human to me, developed or not. Regardless that, I think we can all share feelings that a second-term or trimester baby having their spinal cord cut is equally if not moreso monstrous because now, the foetus is not just a human, but it looks like a human, too. That should put shivers in anyone's spine, looking down on that. To kill it anyway... It's monstrous, atrocious, heartless; inhumane.

I believe in abortions (at the woman's choice) for the mentally ill, financially unfit (government decision on how this is defined, case-by-case method), young (< 17), rape victims, women who may die or have complications at birth and women who find themselves in troubling situations i.e. abusive partner as to minimize the risk of the child being injured, hurt or growing up into a delinquent due to environmental factors (all three are unfair for the baby).

Also, if a doctor tells you that you're infertile so you don't use contraception, yet somehow conceive anyway. You should be allowed to abort because then it's not your fault; it's the doctor's. If not that, then no abortion but the doctor should have to pay a heavy fine to the new mother as to ensure the same mistake isn't made again. This happened to a friend of mine who conceived at age nineteen after being told that ovarian cysts rendered her infertile. She was overjoyed that she, after all the hype and negative news, had suddenly and "magically" conceived, but I can imagine others may not be i.e. aspiring students, professionals, etc. labeled infertile by medical practioners.

But if you're well-off and were irresponsible, not wearing condoms, no birth control, etc. (the use of both is what I define as "responsible," since there's a risk that both fail, and sometimes men and women don't know how to wear condoms properly - studies), then you should not have the right to an abortion because you, in a way, willingly conceived the foetus and should have to claim responsibility for that. As long as you don't fall under any of the above scenarios.

Though I do agree, abortion laws need to be redefined, because a lot of women are at risk for unsafe abortions for various reasons: parental, spousal influence, etc. Some women feel restricted and obliged to carry the baby to term, only to panic and "want out" near the end. Though I believe that the foetus has the same rights as the mother (if conceived purposefully in a good environment) (which is also why I believe the foetus has the right to a healthy home and good parents; if there's a lack, then (though I don't 100% agree even with this next statement, but it fits the "limits" defined earlier that, in my opinion, would make abortion OK) best not be born), there are such slight variations that I'd put the rights of the mother over the foetus', and those of the foetus over the mother's. Those distinctions have already been explained. If women want to have risky abortions because they fell into the irresponsible category, then they risk that on their own accord. I wouldn't agree with "murdering" a foetus because Anny Sue didn't want to take birth control and Don Juan didn't wear a condom. (And even if they did, and still conceived, if they don't fall into any of the categories before i.e. rape then they don't have the right to it either...)

And many who disagree, and that's OK. Abortion is such a sticky topic. There's religion, personal opinion, feminists and other groups that have such varying opinions. It'd be hard to please everyone.

It's just such a grey area!

But really, that doctor is a psychopath :(
 

hinkage

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Okay, how in good conscience could anyone seriously believe abortion is okay? None of the arguments for it make any sense. At the end of the day, you're still killing babies, and the infanticide-attics always parrot the same stupid talking points.

"It's not conscious, so it's okay to kill it!" Yeah, try that on someone in a coma and tell me how well that works out for you. Whether or not it's yet aware (which, at a certain point it is anyway) is irrelevant, it's a living breathing human being.

"It's just a glob/mass of cells!" EVERY LIVING PERSON IS A GLOB/MASS OF CELLS. Why do you idiots even say this? You may as well be saying "It only has internal organs!"

"What if the mother was raped?!" Rape is given to hospitals as the reason for an abortion less than 1% of the time. Rapists are cowards who wear condoms, or pull out and finish at home. Even if the argument wasn't a fallacy to begin with, in that rare case it happened, why the hell is it the child's fault? That's just sick.

"The baby will have a hard life!" Newsflash: The vast majority of people born have hard lives. Should the poor not be allowed to reproduce? Single parents? What if the child is blind? Unbelievably stupid.

"What about a woman's rights over her own body!" What about the child's rights? Okay, forget that for a moment. We've already refuted the rape argument, so let's get right down to it. She chose to have sex. She chose not to use a condom. She chose not to use contraceptive. She chose that the sex would be coitus. She chose to let the guy ejaculate inside of her. And finally, she chose not to use the morning after pill. She consciously decided, again and again, t get pregnant.
 

Belldandy

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I'm really anti-abortion, but given how life is and how much of a hindrance a child can be in certain situations... I 100% believe that a foetus at conception is a human and should not die, but if the mother is going to die giving birth to it, or if she'll suffer trauma for years looking into the face of her child and seeing her rapist or aggressor... Then I'd pick mom over baby, unfortunately.

But if you engage in it yourself, wearing or not wearing condoms / using or not birth control / no morning-after pill (or even with), then phooey on you. You've got yourself a baby!

As for the hindrance comment, society is messed up to the point where your chances of achieving a decent job is very, very small if you're a teen mom or a young mother, mainly because you cannot acquire post-secondary education (or even complete secondary, for many!) It's unfortunate that no plans are in place for young mothers who for whatever reason get pregnant and have a child, for them to easily reintegrate into mainstream society and back into school. Daycares are just too expensive. It's wasted life for both the mother and the baby.

Lack of support on the government's end is not helping the issue.
 

Ivysaur

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Well I believe we are talking about a "person" in the moment the foetus leaves the mother's body. Until then, it's just that, a foetus. An unfinished project of human being. Therefore, I think it's okay if the mother decides not to finish her unifinished project of a baby. Of course, there comes a moment where having the foetus killed put the mother at risk as well, so I'm fine with drawing a line there; she had had ample time to decide earlier.

Hinkage said that he couldn't udnerstand how anybody in good conscience could support abortion: it's as easy as where you draw the line. If you draw the line in the instant of conception, then certainly abortion is an all-out murder. St. Thomas Aquinas believed babies didn't obtain a soul until their 40th day, they weren't humans until then. I consider a person isn't properly alive until it's been born, so you can't properly kill someone who hasn't been born yet.

And, ultimately, it's the mother who has to go through the pregnancy and all. Forcing her to have a baby she doesn't want to have (maybe the condom broke, or the pill didn't work well enough, or she just had second thoughts) sounds more like a punishment than anything else, one in favour of something that hasn't been born yet.

And this said, I believe ultrasounds carry an implicit message of "aww, look how cute it is AND YOU WANT TO ABORT IT YOU MONSTER", which I think is the last feeling she needs in those moments. Information, other options (adoption, help), cooldown time before taking the final decision, sure. Moral attacks, no thanks.
 
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This story is a good example of what we might expect to see if we restrict abortion more. The women who went to this doctor likely went to him because of problems we have in our society where it deals with pregnancy and healthcare.

They women could have been poor and unable to afford abortions, perhaps waiting until they could save up money by which time other doctors wouldn't help them because of how far along the pregnancies were.

Or they could not have known they were pregnant for a while because of a lack of education about their bodies. Perhaps they didn't have access to contraception.

Or they could not have known what rights they had when it comes to having an abortion.

Of they could not get away from work or other responsibilities until it was too late.

Or they were afraid to go to a Planned Parenthood or other provider because of the stigma.

Or... well, you get the point. There are lots of factors that can come together to make a woman desperate. Mandatory waiting periods and other restrictions would only make more women more desperate.
 

Oryx

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Okay, how in good conscience could anyone seriously believe abortion is okay? None of the arguments for it make any sense. At the end of the day, you're still killing babies, and the infanticide-attics always parrot the same stupid talking points.

"It's not conscious, so it's okay to kill it!" Yeah, try that on someone in a coma and tell me how well that works out for you. Whether or not it's yet aware (which, at a certain point it is anyway) is irrelevant, it's a living breathing human being.

If a person is in a coma and required an organ donation from you to survive, even if it was your own child, you would be under no legal obligation to provide it. You could choose not to for literally any reason of your choosing - you can't afford it, you don't want the risk, or you just don't feel like it.

"What if the mother was raped?!" Rape is given to hospitals as the reason for an abortion less than 1% of the time. Rapists are cowards who wear condoms, or pull out and finish at home. Even if the argument wasn't a fallacy to begin with, in that rare case it happened, why the hell is it the child's fault? That's just sick.

Can you please source your assertion that "rapists are cowards who wear condoms, or pull out"? I would like to see your scientific evidence that shows that all rapists do this, or even 99% of rapists do this.

"What about a woman's rights over her own body!" What about the child's rights? Okay, forget that for a moment. We've already refuted the rape argument, so let's get right down to it. She chose to have sex. She chose not to use a condom. She chose not to use contraceptive. She chose that the sex would be coitus. She chose to let the guy ejaculate inside of her. And finally, she chose not to use the morning after pill. She consciously decided, again and again, t get pregnant.

So you believe in punishment babies? Do you also think that people who eat bad food shouldn't be allowed to get heart disease screenings because they brought it on themselves? What about people who drive motorcycles, should they be barred from medical treatment because they chose a risky way to live?

Once again, organ donation. It doesn't matter if the fetus is a human being, a clump of cells, or whatever you want to call it. Say you have a daughter. She's born, she's a legit human being and no one will argue with that. She falls ill. You're told the only way to save her is for you to go into surgery immediately and give her part of your liver. You have enough money to go through with the surgery, you're in good health with minimal risk, and you're certain she'll be fine afterwards. Know what? You're still not legally obligated to do it. And this is a human being that you or your wife/girlfriend/whatever gave birth to, which is a much bigger commitment than having sex. If you're going to argue that having sex should legally obligate you to have a child, then why doesn't having a child legally obligate you to do what's in your power to save her if she falls ill? If you believe so firmly that everyone should go out of their way for extended periods of time to save all human life, have you yet donated the one kidney you don't need? You know people die of lack of a kidney every day, right? You're murdering people, with your logic.

Remember, we're not talking about your ethics. Both you and I would probably brand someone who chose not to donate part of their liver under those circumstances a bad person ethically. But we're talking about legality; legality is not meant to follow your personal ethics.
 
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Well here are the given reasons why women elected for abortion:

3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner (AGI).

Only 12% of women included a physical problem with their health among reasons for having an abortion (NAF).

One per cent (of aborting women), or 32,000, reported that they were the survivors of rape (NAF and CDC corroborated this)

All of these reasons are valid.
Additionally, 50% who elect for abortions are under the age of 25. Thus, corroborating evidence that these women did so for financial and health reasons given that young women are likely to not have established themselves in their careers, and thus cannot afford to take care of a child. Simply because one percent of women elect for abortion in the case of rape, it doesn't mean that right should not be afforded to them.

The cost on society in medical fees for women with reproductive health issues and welfare for indigent a parent(s) is too great. Additionally it could affect the individual woman's ability to function effectively in society. A woman should be responsible for her actions; however, society is harmed when we penalize these women. Further, in many cases, a woman might not have acted reckless in her conception of a child in cases like rape, health issues, or spouse/partner death or separation. The best way to address this issue is to allow for legal, regulated, and somewhat unburdened abortion rights to women regardless of our judgement of whether they abortion is justified for a personal reason since the effects are on society.
 

Oryx

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Just adding that my personal beliefs are that if a fetus is viable outside the uterus, it should be taken out of the uterus and nurtured by the hospital if the woman wants to abort, leaving her out of it and allowing her to separate herself from the fetus without death if it can survive. My expectation is that one day science will expand far enough that we will be able to create an artificial uterus that will be able to nurture a child from conception through birth (we get earlier and earlier preemies surviving every day), then instead of abortion women could easily give up the embryo early in the pregnancy without any dodgy ethical issues. If this was covered by all insurance providers so that women that are low income could take advantage of it, only then would I believe that abortion has no place in our world.
 
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"It's not conscious, so it's okay to kill it!" Yeah, try that on someone in a coma and tell me how well that works out for you. Whether or not it's yet aware (which, at a certain point it is anyway) is irrelevant, it's a living breathing human being.

"It's just a glob/mass of cells!" EVERY LIVING PERSON IS A GLOB/MASS OF CELLS. Why do you idiots even say this? You may as well be saying "It only has internal organs!"

You are basically just grasping strawman, you construct some kind of imaginary argument that no sane person has ever made and try to refute it.
No one believes that you should be able to indiscrimenately kill anything that isn't concious. All you are doing is try to shove your incredibly arbitrary standards down other people's throats. You draw some a line based on your own personal beliefs that you find acceptable and everyone that disagrees with you is an idiot.
Or do you mind explaining what makes a fertilized egg, it's nothing more than the combination of the egg and a sperm. I would argue that the things that make a life valuable are thoughts, feelings, memories, and awareness. None of these things are present in an embryo until several months after the conception because it simply does not have a nervous system. This also breaks apart your comparasion with coma patients. They actually have feelings, memories and whatnot, their nervous system is still active or else they wouldn't be alive.
 
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Just throwing it out there and for anyone else to weigh-in on.

But, what if it is the case that in the future our population becomes to unmanageable in addition our economy is in a state of peril, and we have the technological advancements to cultivate a fetus that has yet to attain viability in the womb.

Should we utilize the technology and intervene or abort the fetus and not intervene with the technology?
 

TRIFORCE89

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Just throwing it out there and for anyone else to weigh-in on.

But, what if it is the case that in the future our population becomes to unmanageable in addition our economy is in a state of peril, and we have the technological advancements to cultivate a fetus that has yet to attain viability in the womb.
Wouldn't be the case here. Maybe elsewhere, like China or India. Canada and the US and the like is endanger of having an aging population, with the younger population at risk of not being able to meet the rate of replacement due to decreased numbers of births. That would hurt our economy.

Anyway, I'm against late-term or so-called "partial birth" abortions because at a certain point in its development it is able to feel pain. And if it is able to survive outside the womb at that point, and would otherwise ordinarily be attempted to save in he event of a premature birth, I can't comprehend why you would terminate something at the point.

But this goes beyond even that. The abortion attempt failed, it was born (and if there's disagreement about life beginning at conception, we've got to at lest be able to agree that it should most certainly exist come birth), and he killed them. Correct verdict I think
 

Mr. X

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For those who base their opinions on Abortion entirely on the Bible, might as well point this out.

Catholic Health - A insurance company (If I remember right) that prides itself on Catholic Values - argued that a fetus wasn't a human being.

The reason why? So they could get out of paying a monetary settlement.
 

TRIFORCE89

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For those who base their opinions on Abortion entirely on the Bible, might as well point this out.

Catholic Health - A insurance company (If I remember right) that prides itself on Catholic Values - argued that a fetus wasn't a human being.

The reason why? So they could get out of paying a monetary settlement.
Hypocritical insurance companies trying to cover their asses financially should be the moral compass for us all
 
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But this goes beyond even that. The abortion attempt failed, it was born (and if there's disagreement about life beginning at conception, we've got to at lest be able to agree that it should most certainly exist come birth), and he killed them. Correct verdict I think
As contentious an issue as abortion is at least we can all agree that this guy deserved punishment for what he did. Definitely the correct verdict.

The only real issue here, I think, is in how this case is spun. Some abortion opponents have tried to portray abortions everywhere like this when this is clearly outside the norm.

Well, I suppose the other issue would be what should be done if a woman goes for a (legal) abortion and the doctor screws something up and ends up causing the woman to give birth to a living baby. Not likely, of course, but it's something to chew on.
 
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