A few minutes ago, while driving, I heard a story about a doctor in Philadelphia by the name of Kermit Gosnell. He is accused of killing infants after they were delivered live at his abortion clinic and blamed for the death of a woman during an abortion.
"We have consistently said that this is a horrifying and outrageous case, that Gosnell ran a criminal enterprise, not a health care facility, and that he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told ABC News recently.
Gosnell, 69, is accused of running an abortion clinic in which none of his medical staff were properly licensed or trained, and in which he would allegedly induce labor in women who were six, seven, or eight months pregnant and then kill the newborn children after they were delivered, according to ABC News affiliate WPVI. He is charged with killing seven infants and one mother, who died of an overdose of Demerol.
Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said that Gosnell's practice was clearly illegal and substandard, and demonstrated the conditions some women are willing to go through to secure an abortion.
"What Gosnell was doing, at least as described by the grand jury report, was illegal from top to bottom under current state and federal law, so the fact that he was able to continue operating and particularly preying on poor women and women who felt they had no other options is indicative of what happens when you drive abortion underground and to back alley providers," she said.
"We think the Gosnell case is exactly why we need to keep abortion safe and legal and accessible to all people," Hogue said.
Doctor Kermit Gosnell could face the death penalty.
Is "eye for an eye" the most constructive system of justice for a society to flourish under? While, I agree that what the doctor has been accused of is terrible and clearly illegal, when I heard the woman on the radio say that he could face the death penalty, I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
Abortion and the death penalty are two very sensitive and polarizing topics in our country. I'd like to know where you stand on the matter. Do you think abortion should be illegal? If so, how do you think offenders should be punished?