# Pro-lifers asking: Why isn't the Gosnell trial bigger news in the traditional media? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 13, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557 "2013-04-13T01:11:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/101 "2013-04-15T11:14:29Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Most of what you are talking about is covered by “threat to the physical health of the mother”. Yes. What I am talking about is surgical removal of a fetus. In other words, Cesarean section, which is absolutely a threat to the physical health of the mother. Much more sore than abortion. Additionally, C-sections very often result in weakened abdominal wall which can result in chronic medical issues, up to and including the inability to deliver vaginally. That is not a procedure that is as “easy” as you claim. > [@](#): > > As for the deformed fetus, I rely on two principles here: first, a presumption that the laws covering this have been carefully considered: 45 states do not permit late term abortions if the fetus is unhealthy but the mother is and can deliver normally. Second, that a viable fetus is entitled to the same rights as an adult in the same situation. We don’t put down adults, we shouldn’t put down viable fetuses. Then 45 states are making women’s health policy based only on the status of the fetus and not on the status of the mother. Because the status of the mother forced into an unnecessary delivery is at risk of serious medical complications and permanent injury. As for not “put[ting] down adults,” you are incorrect. We absolutely do put down adults. It’s called the death penalty. We also withhold lifesaving medical treatment when the patient is unable to pay for it. But irrelevant because there’s a significant difference between an adult and a fetus and that is that the adult resides outside of a womb and therefore is no longer biologically dependent on its mother. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/102 "2013-04-15T11:29:40Z")
That’s an interesting thing to debate, because that’s where the line gets shady. The fetus may still be reliant on its mothers’ body but it is also at that point a complete human being, no longer just a collection of tissue. It’s a matter of setting priorities. You believe that the mothers’ bodily autonomy is preeminent. I believe that life outweighs all other considerations. Viable life that is. I can concede that if a woman faces serious medical complications from giving birth, then an abortion should be allowed. However, elective abortion of viable fetuses is rightly against the law nearly everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/103 "2013-04-15T11:59:57Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s an interesting thing to debate, because that’s where the line gets shady. The fetus may still be reliant on its mothers’ body but it is also at that point a complete human being, no longer just a collection of tissue. It’s a matter of setting priorities. You believe that the mothers’ bodily autonomy is preeminent. I believe that life outweighs all other considerations. Viable life that is. I can concede that if a woman faces serious medical complications from giving birth, then an abortion should be allowed. However, elective abortion of viable fetuses is rightly against the law nearly everywhere. It’s not just a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. Every person has a right to bodily autonomy. You are legally a person that is a citizen of the U.S. protected by law upon birth. Not upon conception. Not upon viability which is not, in any way, biologically independent. A person is a biologically independent human being. That is the most logical definition as it respects bodily autonomy of each individual which should be considered preeminent equally for males and females, of age of majority or minor. Banning elective abortion of fetuses selectively violates women’s innate right to bodily autonomy. As a woman, as a mother and as an American, I just can’t see how that’s right, not ethically or judiciously. Not at all. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/104 "2013-04-15T12:08:42Z")
IT should be noted that Gosnell was delivering babies the regular way and then just killing them. So the women received no actual health benefit from his abortions. THe Colorado government should do an investigation and make sure this isn’t what’s happening in the other remaining clinic that does late term abortions. There have been reports from other such places of pretty horrific murders of viable babies outside the womb. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/105 "2013-04-15T12:39:40Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Have you heard of Kermit Gosnell? If you haven’t, you’re not the only one apparently. > Kermit Gosnell is an abortion provider who is currently on trial for 8 counts of murder: 1 count for a woman who died after abortion, and 7 counts for incidents in which he killed infants by “snipping” their spinal cords after they were born alive in the process of late term abortion. > There are many, many more allegations of illegal and unethical behavior, as you can read about in the > [Grand Jury report](http://www.phila.gov/districtattorney/pdfs/grandjurywomensmedical.pdf) if you really want to, or you might just want to read the Cliff notes summary at [TruTv’s crime library](http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/kermit-gosnell/inside-the-clinic.html). That’s bad enough, I think. > > The level of inhumane disregard that the guy seems to have shown towards his patients and the fetuses/infants is almost cartoonish in how over the top it seems to have been. > > [The Atlantic is arguing that this story should be front page news](http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/why-dr-kermit-gosnells-trial-should-be-a-front-page-story/274944/) : > > In a response to this, [Slate posted an article](http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/04/12/kermit_gosnell_the_alleged_mass_murderer_and_the_bored_media.html): > Personally I do think the media’s relative disinterest in it (though it seems to be gaining traction now) is symptomatic of the same issue that caused the clinic to operate so long without any of the regulators taking notice. If the child was born live and full term is indeed illegal. and people who call themselves pro-life(that in my opinion are just pro-birth), should be able to ask for, and get the child to support it; once born live it is the member of society. A woman can give birth, leave it at a hospital or police station without penalty and it should be the same for a child that was born live under any circumstance. It then becomes a child of the state and can be adopted by another person. I heard plenty from the so called liberal media, because it wasn’t broadcasted every few minuets doesn’t mean it wasn’t told. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/106 "2013-04-15T12:41:54Z")
True, but until the refs were worked by the conservative media, it wasn’t reported a heck of a lot, and not nearly in proportion to its actual significance. It’s at least as important as Newtown. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/107 "2013-04-15T12:51:36Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > IT should be noted that Gosnell was delivering babies the regular way and then just killing them. So the women received no actual health benefit from his abortions. > > THe Colorado government should do an investigation and make sure this isn’t what’s happening in the other remaining clinic that does late term abortions. There have been reports from other such places of pretty horrific murders of viable babies outside the womb. Unless there have been legitimate reports specifically concerning the only other clinic in that state they have no business starting an investigation…unless of course your goal is not to investigate a possible crime, but to further discourage anyone from visiting the place. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/108 "2013-04-15T12:58:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If a regulation is considered too onerous for an abortion clinic, and unnecessary, we should be questioning why an urgent care clinic or dental clinic would be subject to the same regulation. Are you under the impression that an urgent care clinic and dental clinic are subject to the same regulations? They are not. > [@](#): > > One prudent regulation that I think should be imposed is that late term abortions should only be performed in hospitals, and only if two doctors confirm that the patient is likely to suffer damage to her physical health if she carries it to term. I agree with this, actually. I agree because a late term abortion is a more medically complicated procedure than an early one, and the risks to the mother are greater. There is also a chance of the fetus being born instead of aborted, and I agree that such a baby should - if its medical condition warrants it - be treated as a new patient in that hospital. Who pays for it? Whomever pays for indigent care for micropreemies now. Medicaid, if there’s no private insurance. Is this going to become a burdensome medical expense? Hardly, because women by and large _don’t_ have elective abortions past the point of viability. Less than 2% of abortions are late term, and the vast majority of those are heartbreaking medical decisions. > [@](#): > > These late term clinics are like many online pharmacies, if you come in wanting something, you’ll get it whether or not its medically necessary. Clinics? Plural? I thought your claim was that only \*one \*doctor in the US performs late term abortions. How many clinics does he work at? > [@adaher](#): > > The directive that fetal survival had to be attempted was declared unconstitutional. However, in Gosnell’s case, these women were actually fully birthing these babies, THEN he killed them. And that’s why he’s looking at a long time in jail. No one thinks what he did is right, to those women, those babies or to his employees who have to look themselves in the mirror every night. The whole thing is a sack of disgusting, and I truly hope that everyone - not just Gosnell as a figurehead - who was performing procedures outside of their scope of practice is appropriately charged and punished. So I think you and I are not so far apart as our labels would have us think. Where we seem mostly to differ is that I think this monster was allowed to get away with what he did because of a whole host of problems caused by people trying to restrict access to abortion, including the lack of inspections, a lack of funding and limited women’s health care, and you seem to think his patients were just clueless self absorbed ignorant women who couldn’t be bothered to schedule their abortion in a timely fashion. I’ve got news for you…if a woman has the money, if she knows she’s pregnant and if she doesn’t want to be, if she can get time off at work, if she has babysitting and transportation and if she is able to get an appointment at a safe, reputable medical center, she’s pretty damn unlikely to put it off for 5 months at a whim. But that’s a whole lot of “ifs” that the antiabortion legislators and culture have made exceedingly difficult for poor women to secure. > [@adaher](#): > > There are hundreds of abortion providers, all of whom face threats. The reason 99.9% of them refuse to do abort viable fetuses is due to conscience, not fear. Do you have a cite for this claim? That 99.9% of doctors are \*morally \*opposed to late term abortions? That number seems high to me. It’s certainly much higher than the general population. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/109 "2013-04-15T13:13:27Z")
And let me be clear: by “if the medical condition warrants it”, I mean just that. Not every preterm infant is a good candidate for intensive care. I think that whether a preterm infant is whisked to the NICU should be decided without regard for how it entered the world. Some of that is based on oxygenation and muscle movement at birth, some based on birth weight, some on gender and complications during pregnancy and some part of it is based on what the parent(s) want to see happen. When my own (wanted) daughter was needed to be delivered at 23 weeks, we were given the option, because she was so on the very border of viable - c-section and try to save her in the NICU, or induce a vaginal birth and allow her to die (it being exceedingly unlikely that she’d survive the stress of a vaginal birth.) We were given a choice. Choice. We \*chose \*to have a c-section and send her to the NICU, and she’s a healthy 8 year old today. Thank goodness. But no more babies for me. She was my last safe pregnancy; now I’m at a much raised risk of uterine rupture, high enough that I’ve been advised never to get pregnant again. But it was our choice. Our choice to pay the thousands of dollars in insurance copays. Our choice to live with the risks of long term disabilities. Our choice to sit at her bedside for hours every day for weeks. Our choice to live on a single income so that I could do her therapy and take her to doctor’s appointments and pump milk 10 times a day for 14 months. Our choice to never have another biological child or the natural childbirth we’d dreamed of. That experience is what inspired me to become a nurse. A NICU nurse, in particular. Now, I’m not there yet (I’m actually working at the other end of life while I finish the schooling I need for NICU), but I will be someday. And I know that not every baby born will or should be brought to the NICU, and that sometimes my job will be to make a baby’s death the best death possible for them and their families, not to save their life. And I’m okay with that. So, you ask me what we should do if a fetus is delivered alive? We should treat it as a baby. As any other baby in the hospital. Some of them we allow to die naturally, sometimes with sedation and painkillers, and some of them we attempt to save. And mother’s choice still weighs quite heavily in \*that \*decision making process. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/110 "2013-04-15T13:41:22Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > It’s not just a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. Every person has a right to bodily autonomy. You are legally a person that is a citizen of the U.S. protected by law upon birth. Not upon conception. Not upon viability which is not, in any way, biologically independent. A person is a biologically independent human being. That is the most logical definition as it respects bodily autonomy of each individual which should be considered preeminent equally for males and females, of age of majority or minor. But something doesn’t have to be a defined as a person before it can be protected by the law. > [@Brown Eyed Girl](#): > > Banning elective abortion of fetuses selectively violates women’s innate right to bodily autonomy. Yes, it does. But it does so to protect the rights of a viable fetus. Many of your rights can be limited, and your right to bodily integrity can, and is, “violated” to protect the rights of a viable fetus. > [@Brown Eyed Girl](#): > > As a woman, as a mother and as an American, I just can’t see how that’s right, not ethically or judiciously. Not at all. It’s a balancing of rights that in conflict, something that the law has done for centuries. If you, as I do, believe that the potential life of a fetus has value, then it is perfectly ethical and judicious for the law to protect that potential life. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/111 "2013-04-15T13:45:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Unless there have been legitimate reports specifically concerning the only other clinic in that state they have no business starting an investigation…unless of course your goal is not to investigate a possible crime, but to further discourage anyone from visiting the place. Businesses can be inspected without cause. An abortion clinic, like any other business, is subject to supervision by the authorities. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/112 "2013-04-15T13:48:15Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Do you have a cite for this claim? That 99.9% of doctors are \*morally \*opposed to late term abortions? That number seems high to me. It’s certainly much higher than the general population. It’s simple logic. Abortion clinics are already subject to constant threats and protests. But let’s just take Planned Parenthood since they are national and famous. How come Planned Parenthood won’t do abortions of viable fetuses? Fear? That would be hard to argue. And if fear isn’t what’s motivating them not to do it, it’s got to be principle. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/113 "2013-04-15T14:05:01Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And if fear isn’t what’s motivating them not to do it, it’s got to be principle. Those are really the only two options? What about: cost, additional medical requirements, expertise that their doctors don’t have, insufficient demand (these procedures are rather rare)? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/114 "2013-04-15T14:10:05Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Businesses can be inspected without cause. An abortion clinic, like any other business, is subject to supervision by the authorities. But you said that they _should_ be investigated, which indicates to me that you think that an investigation of that facility is needed _now_. Why? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/115 "2013-04-15T14:13:08Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It’s simple logic. Abortion clinics are already subject to constant threats and protests. But let’s just take Planned Parenthood since they are national and famous. How come Planned Parenthood won’t do abortions of viable fetuses? Fear? That would be hard to argue. And if fear isn’t what’s motivating them not to do it, it’s got to be principle. So, no, then, you don’t have a cite. I happen to have a couple. > [@](#): > > Seventy-seven percent of doctors at the British Medical Association conference in Manchester said they would not support any reduction in the 24-week limit on late-term abortions. … > > The British physicians indicated that late abortions were distressing, but would be acceptable if the pregnancy were detected late or the baby were handicapped. [http://archive.lifenews.com/nat1410.html](http://archive.lifenews.com/nat1410.html) That’s British physicians, to be sure. > [@](#): > > about 11 percent of abortion providers … perform abortions after the 20th week. [http://jezebel.com/5913841/meet-the-christian-formerly-anti+abortion-doctor-who-now-performs-late+term-abortions](http://jezebel.com/5913841/meet-the-christian-formerly-anti+abortion-doctor-who-now-performs-late+term-abortions) Let me propose several other "logical’ reasons there may be fewer doctors performing late term abortions these days. Reason number one, of course, being that not very many women want them. There’s just not a huge swelling of demand. Number two, of course, is that, as you already know, they’re illegal or highly regulated in most states. Third, it’s a malpractice and liability insurance nightmare that can cost a phsyician hundred of thousands extra in insurance premiums every year. Fourth, doctors who do late term abortions and their families are disproportionally attacked in the media and in physical reality - even more that doctors who do “regular” abortions. Fifth, education is lacking - medical students aren’t being trained in these procedures as widely as they once were. Late term abortion may soon go the way of forceps delivery - something that your doctor has read about and watched a video of, but never actually done herself. ---
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/116 "2013-04-15T14:29:09Z")
Adaher, I saw what you did back there with the “unworthy of life” phrase. Am I the only one who wants to call Godwin? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/117 "2013-04-15T14:43:51Z")
Why aren’t pro-lifers asking, “Why isn’t the Gosnell trial a bigger story in **conservative** media?” Per [blogger Kevin Drum](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/04/kermit-gosnell-case-study-working-refs): > [@](#): > > consider how the conservative Washington Times has handled the Gosnell case so far. > > On March 18, they ran an AP dispatch about the start of the trial. Since then, they haven’t published a single additional piece. However, they have published the following: > > ``` > March 27: An op-ed by Christopher Harper about the media's "shameful" silence concerning the Gosnell case. > April 8: A news story about the "media blackout" of the Gosnell trial for "political reasons." > April 11: An editorial deploring the fact that "this grim story was not something for the morning papers or the evening news, at least not for those reading the 'mainstream' newspapers or watching ABC, CBS or NBC." > April 11: A news story reporting that conservative House members "took to the floor to denounce what they call a 'national media cover-up' of the sensational case." > April 12: A news story reporting that "conservatives and other pro-life advocates who are upset with the lack of coverage of the case are taking to social media sites in droves." > April 13: A weekly news recap headlined, "Abortion doctor on trial, but media not interested." > April 14: An op-ed about our "undistinguished press corps," listing all their recent shortcomings. "Most egregious of all, though, has been the lack of coverage on the 'House of Horror' trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell." > > ``` > > And that brings us to today. Adding it all up, we have a grand total of one story about the trial itself and seven stories complaining that other media outlets aren’t covering the trial. IOW, the very conservative _Washington Times_ isn’t covering the story, but is pissed at the MSM for not covering the story. He goes on to point out that the same is true pretty much across the right-wing media. None of them are devoting more than trivial coverage to the trial itself, but they’ve got wall-to-wall coverage of the mainstream media’s similar lack of coverage of the story. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/118 "2013-04-15T15:42:05Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Why aren’t pro-lifers asking, “Why isn’t the Gosnell trial a bigger story in **conservative** media?” > > Per [blogger Kevin Drum](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/04/kermit-gosnell-case-study-working-refs): > IOW, the very conservative _Washington Times_ isn’t covering the story, but is pissed at the MSM for not covering the story. > > He goes on to point out that the same is true pretty much across the right-wing media. None of them are devoting more than trivial coverage to the trial itself, but they’ve got wall-to-wall coverage of the mainstream media’s similar lack of coverage of the story. Except that those stories aren’t trivial coverage of the issue. To pick one example, from the first three paragraphs of the April 14th Op-Ed: > [@](#): > > By his own lawyer’s count, Kermit Gosnell, a 72-year-old doctor in West Philadelphia, Pa., performed more than 16,000 abortions over the course of 31 years. > Dr. Gosnell has an attorney explaining his work because he is busy being tried for murder over seven of those abortions and the death of one prospective mother. Karnamaya Mongar, a native of Bhutan, went to the Gosnell clinic in the 19th week of her pregnancy, well past the first trimester in which most abortions are performed. When she sought to end the life of her unborn child, Ms. Mongar already had three children of her own. The children lost their mother when she reacted badly to a painkiller during the procedure and died at a nearby hospital. > The other seven unborn children, who remain unnamed, suffered a grimmer fate. Dr. Gosnell stands accused of cutting the spinal cords after plunging a pair of scissors into their necks. The details only grow more gruesome. Descriptions of the physical conditions at the clinic and the pressure he is accused of putting on employees are not pleasant reading. The op-ed THEN goes on to discuss the lack of other coverage. But they don’t bury the lede. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/119 "2013-04-15T15:48:07Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Except that those stories aren’t trivial coverage of the issue. > > To pick one example, from the first three paragraphs of the April 14th Op-Ed: > > The op-ed THEN goes on to discuss the lack of other coverage. But they don’t bury the lede. But that’s an op-ed piece, not a straight news story. How many news stories have they done? ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557/120 "2013-04-15T16:02:47Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Why don’t you just go all the way and call for a law that requires a man to stand over her as she gives birth, slapping her and spitting on her over and over while screaming “slut!” ? I give you props for your ability to be so damm, tangential. I gotta say, that was one of the biggest tangential leaps Ive seen in some time [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-lifers-asking-why-isnt-the-gosnell-trial-bigger-news-in-the-traditional-media/655557.md?page=7)