Lots of people have been talking about the wicked actions of Kermit Gosnell, the abortion doctor who is accused of killing several babies born alive. Fewer seem to know that one of his victims was a 41-year-old Bhutanese-Nepali refugee. Since a number of my readers care deeply for the Bhutanese, I wanted to just give you a quick heads up.
The below link will take you to an article by Fox News which tell she the story of Karna Mongar who died while under Gosnell's care in 2009.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/16/woman-testifies-about-mom-death-at-philadelphia-abortion-clinic/
And here is another from Philly.com:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20130416_Gosnell_jury_hears_of_womans_death.html
This episode has, of course, raised the issue of legalized abortion all over again. For years, one of the more compelling arguments in favor of legalized abortion has been the specter of illegal, unsafe abortions performed in secret clinics and back alleys. The Gosnell case certainly throws a wrench in the pro-abortion lobby which has perhaps spent so much energy fighting to make abortion legal that they have failed to ensure that it is safe and rare.
Mongar's death, however raises another critical issue. Do our current social welfare systems encourage certain slimy individuals to exploit the poor and immigrant? I am going to go out on a limb and assume that most of Gosnell's victims were, like Mongar, poor. And, while I don't know for sure, I feel safe in stepping out a bit further to assume that they were also mostly ethnic minorities. I have had the opportunity to be with many immigrants during trips to medical clinics, doctors' offices, etc. I have also personally had my family participate in public health care systems. These experiences and that Gosnell case certainly raise the question in my mind, "Where is the accountability?"
It just seems to be one of the most politically expedient things in the world to make sweeping offers of public health care as a benefit to the poor and then, because too few people actually care about the poor and about ethnic minorities, to do very little to ensure that the healthcare provided is ... well ... healthy.
Thoughts?
According to a former employee's testimony, Gosnell treated white clients differently from others; he would actually sit down with them and put them in the nicer room (probably one that didn't have cat feces in it).
ReplyDeleteSome people have noted that since Medicaid and many insurance policies do not cover abortions, poorer women who want abortions have to save up the money. Since it takes them longer to save up the money, they wind up asking for more late-term abortions, which are illegal in more places, which enables shady characters like Gosnell to thrive.
I would guess that many of the women who ended up at Gosnell's clinic for late term abortions were referred there by other providers. How else would a Bhutanese Nepali from Virginia know to go to Philadelphia? The report says that at least one pediatrician stopped referring his patients to Gosnell's clinic after girls who had received abortions there kept developing the same STD. But you have to wonder how many people kept referring women to Gosnell's clinic while having some inkling of the terrible conditions. How many referrers actually followed up with the women's health after their abortions?
The grand jury's report estimates Gosnell took in $1.8 million from abortions _each year_, mostly in cash. He had a sliding fee scale based on how far along the pregnancy was (the farther along, the more the fee). As much as those supporting legal abortion talk about women deserving full access to abortions, abortion at least in this case was a for-profit industry rather than a healthcare service.
The Church is so quick to jump on the anti-abortion issue calling is a "pro-life" stance, yet for the most part, the extent of these efforts seem to be angry protests and political demonstrations. Where were the "pro-lifers" in the life of this woman? Why was there no one to walk alongside her and prevent the need for the abortion? Why was there no one to support her in making a pro-life decision? Jesus came to bring abundant life- life that extends beyond the womb. The Church needs to practice a pro-life ministry that goes beyond just the issue of abortion. We need to take living water into the driest places, a mission that involves moving beyond political protests and into the world. Abortion may never be illegal in this country again, but the Church can and must take an active role in making it rare.
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