Planned Parenthood Knew About Gosnell And Did Nothing

One of the most horrifying of the horrors disclosed in the Kermit Gosnell trial, aside from the murdered babies, is that so many people around Gosnell knew what was going on and did nothing to stop him. From hospitals to state regulators to even Gosnell’s own employees, many people looked the other way because abortion is a political football and they didn’t want to give the pro-lifers ammunition.

Which is a big reason why the Gosnell trial went uncovered by the national media for so long despite having many of the salacious aspects the national media loves.

But now it turns out that the group which represents the loudest voice in favor of abortion was told about the problems at Gosnell’s clinic and, like so many others, did nothing.

The Gosnell trial has shifted the focus off the high-quality services we provide,” said Dayle Steinberg, the organization’s president and chief executive. “These are criminal, horrendous . . . acts and should be appropriately punished.”

Steinberg said that when Gosnell was in practice, women would sometimes come to Planned Parenthood for services after first visiting Gosnell’s West Philadelphia clinic, and would complain to staff about the conditions there.

“We would always encourage them to report it to the Department of Health,” Steinberg said.

It’s worth noting that this same Steinberg claimed in 2010 that her group wasn’t aware of any problems at Gosnell’s clinic:

Local media outlet WHYY reported at that time that planned Parenthood had no foreknowledge: “Steinberg says she knows that Gosnell has provided abortions in Philadelphia for many years, but says she hadn’t heard of any problems at clinic until the allegations surfaced in recent days.”

Matt Vespa points out that under Pennsylvania state law “requires any doctor who treats a woman because of a complication arising from an abortion to make a report to DOH. Willful failure to do so constitutes ‘unprofessional conduct’ and subjects the treating doctor to sanctions by the Board of Medicine.”

Keep in mind that it wasn’t just murdering babies (as if that weren’t bad enough) that Gosnell was guilty of. The conditions of his clinic were horrific, with the remains of dead babies being kept in paper bags in the break room refrigerator. Also, because of unsterile equipment, Gosnell spread diseases from woman to woman.

That Planned Parenthood, supposedly a promoter of “women’s health,” looked the other way speaks volumes about the group’s priorities.