Staffers from the offices of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., watched the graphic documentary, "3801 Lancaster," which detailed the squalid conditions of Gosnell's clinic and showed graphic images of the babies who are believed to have died there.
[WARNING: Graphic Content. See the Documentary HERE.]
Several of the staffers winced or turned away from the screen when images were shown of babies Gosnell allegedly aborted by "snipping," a practice by which a baby's spinal cord is severed with scissors.
The documentary was made by independent filmmakers and screened on the Hill by the Pennsylvania Family Institute and the Washington-based pro-life group the Susan B. Anthony List.
SBA List head Marjorie Dannenfelser encouraged staffers to specifically look into potentially lax regulation of abortion clinics in their home states, as well as fetal pain legislation at the federal level.
| Commentary |
Donald Thompson, MD, MPH&TM - Director, CMDA's Global
Health Outreach: "Advocates for life should certainly be alarmed by the
malicious disregard of young women and their babies in the Gosnell 'House of
Horrors' case, as described in the Grand Jury report that is available at the 3801Lancaster.com website.
The lack of media coverage during the first four weeks of the trial is very
troubling as well and has led to foundational questions about ethics in
reporting by the media and many allegations of media bias.
"As healthcare professionals, we have a unique level of credibility in the discussion of patient safety, clinical oversight and standards of care. Gosnell’s abuse will be the exception rather than the rule only if state medical boards take on proper oversight of abortion clinics and are transparent with their findings. We should all become patient advocates by exhorting our state elected officials to mandate the same level of oversight of abortion clinics and abortionists as we experience in our medical practices and in similar facilities.
"We encounter women and girls who have been traumatized by abortion or who may be considering abortion. This documentary describes the open wounds that continue to affect the women who suffered in Gosnell’s clinic. These women are suffering from a post-traumatic stress syndrome, just like women we may see in our clinics every day who have also experienced an abortion.
"Will we notice them? Will we ask the right questions? Will we look up from our computer screen and sit down long enough so that they feel we really want to hear about their silent suffering? Let's be ready to help women with these deep scars and also to refer patients to a Crisis Pregnancy Center or other local resource for help."
Action
Write your state representatives and encourage them to introduce women's health and safety clinic regulation bills similar to the Americans United for Life model legislation.
Resources
Learn more about recognizing and managing similar cases by studying the new CMDA Human Trafficking CME/CDE modules.
Medical pregnancy centers need physicians willing to volunteer as little as an hour per week to write orders, read ultrasounds and provide oversight to the nurse administering the medical services. To find a pregnancy center near you through a national pro-life organization:
Care-Net centers: Go HERE to see centers in your region or call 703-554-8753 or email.
Heartbeat International centers: email Heartbeat's Medical Specialist - SDammann@HeartbeatInternational.org
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