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Friday, April 12, 2013

How Media is a Powerful Tool

Today I read one of the most bone-chilling, mind-boggling, horrifying stories of my life.



I'm part of a minority trying to bring this story to the light.



This story is the story of Kermit Gosnell, a medical practitioner from my very own Philadelphia. Gosnell ran the Women's Medical Society, a fake clinic that treated women, mostly non-white women of low socioeconomic status. He offered illegal drug prescriptions, as well as abortions.



Full disclosure: I'm pro-life. Simply on a scientific basis, I think that once you can detect a pregnancy, it's a human life and deserves to be protected. I also understand that abortion is a many-faceted topic, and saying "just outlaw it!" glosses over so many issues, and an answer that simplistic will never suffice. We live in a broken system, and many things need to happen in regards to education, prevention, and healthcare before we can really deal effectively with abortion laws.



All that aside, nobody should be able to read Gosnell's story without shuddering. The language is graphic, with details about how this man (and his largely untrained staff) murdered babies aborted at 30 weeks, punctured the organs of the women he treated, and even killed some of his patients. It will (and should) turn your stomach.



And remarkably few people are aware.



This is just as gruesome and horrific as stories like Sandy Hook, Trayvon Martin, and so many other tales of gore and violence. Our media eats this stuff up. Why is no one talking about this? No matter where you stand on abortions, we should all be able to agree that cases like Gosnell should never ever happen. We can use this to dialogue about pro-choice/pro-life laws, we can use this as a jumping-off point to reform and improve women's healthcare, we can take this platform to make sure that medical procedures regulated for the health and safety of everyone.



Help me spread this story. We cannot allow horrors and injustices like this to go unnoticed.



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