Several pro-life organizations took note, earlier this month, of the one-year anniversary of the first-degree murder conviction of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell. Dr. Gosnell was found guilty of killing babies that were still alive after botched abortions, and was also convicted of 21 felony counts of illegal late term abortion. He is serving three life sentences in state prison. Some of his former employees are also doing time.
Grizzly as this episode was — and as much as we’d like not to think about it — pro-lifers are doing their best not to let it slip from American consciousness. This case helped paint a picture. And this picture is worth a thousand words in favor of protecting women. The filthy and otherwise disgusting conditions in Gosnell’s Philadelphia clinic have prompted the passage of laws in several states requiring that abortion facilities meet certain safety standards and mandating that abortionists have admitting privileges at local hospitals.
The atrocities uncovered at that horrible clinic also tell another story. That story is that, at a certain point in gestation, at least before 20 weeks, an unborn baby feels pain. Arina Grossu is Director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council. At a press conference on the one-year anniversary of Gosnell’s conviction, Ms. Grossu pointed out that, “The babies that Gosnell brutally killed felt pain.”
She’s referring to the little ones who didn’t die when they were supposed to. But the ones that did die — while still in the womb — felt pain too.
So, Senator Lindsay Graham has introduced the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. ” The bill prohibits the abortion of unborn babies after 20 weeks, that’s five months, gestation. These babies are capable of feeling the excruciating pain from abortion. Mothers considering abortion need to be informed, and strongly reminded of that fact, as they are making their ….“choice.”
The House passed a similar measure a year ago and several states have enacted their own laws that cut off abortions at five months. The senate bill has forty co-sponsors. But, Majority Leader Harry Reid has refused to allow the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Act” to come to the floor for a vote. He’s protecting pro-choice senators from having to explain their position on this in an election year.
He’s right to worry. According to an NBC poll, one in five people who say they favor abortion rights favor these “pain capable” laws.
A growing body of research tells us that unborn babies feel pain at 20 weeks, probably much earlier. Medical textbooks and professional anesthesiologists generally agree that anesthesia and analgesia are warranted for fetal surgical procedures.
America is one of seven countries that permit abortion on demand after 20 weeks gestation. Joining us in this category are China, and North Korea, not exactly known as champions of human rights. This is inexcusable. We have the science — and the optics — to ban these late term abortions.