New York Times Finally Notices Gosnell Trial...When a Development In His Favor Occurs
The trial in Philadelphia of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, on trial for infanticide, continues to be mostly ignored by the mainstream press. After public outcry. there was a bump in coverage, and the New York Times finally sent a reporter to cover the trial. But Trip Gabriel only filed a single story from Philadelphia, and that focused not on the trial but on the "online furor" that forced the media to pay attention.
The paper then promptly ignored the stomach-churning details emerging every day from the trial, until Wednesday, reporting an update favorable to Gosnell's defense, "Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Is Cleared on Some Counts." Jon Hurdle, using the liberal phrasing of "fetuses" not "babies," reported:
A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday threw out three of seven murder charges against a Philadelphia doctor charged with killing viable fetuses while performing abortions.
The judge, Jeffrey P. Minehart of Common Pleas Court here, granted motions for acquittal on the charges against the physician, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who ran the Women’s Medical Center, a West Philadelphia abortion clinic.
Judge Minehart also granted a motion for acquittal in five charges of abuse of corpse against Dr. Gosnell, who according to prosecutors killed fetuses that were alive after they were aborted by plunging scissors into their necks. Dr. Gosnell, 72, was also acquitted on one charge of infanticide.
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The trial has become a cause célèbre for some anti-abortion activists, a few of whom were seated in the courtroom on Tuesday. Before the judge announced his decision, an officer of the court instructed those present to remain silent.
Bryan Kemper, youth outreach director for Priests for Life, an anti-abortion group, said he was “obviously frustrated” with the judge’s decision. Mr. Kemper, who traveled from Ohio to attend the trial, said he was convinced that Dr. Gosnell had deliberately killed live fetuses.
“It makes no sense to me that he could snip the back of the neck of a baby that was not alive,” Mr. Kemper said during a break in the hearing.
