Dave Weigel:
The conservative campaign to shame the media into covering Kermit Gosnell’s murder trial was a success. It was only the Boston Marathon bombing, which happened the day media arrived for the abortionist’s trial in Philadelphia, that kept it from A1. But the verdict finally came in today—three counts of murder—and the first response I got was from NARAL President Ilyse Hogue.
Justice was served to Kermit Gosnell today and he will pay the price for the atrocities he committed. We hope that the lessons of the trial do not fade with the verdict. Anti-choice politicians, and their unrelenting efforts to deny women access to safe and legal abortion care, will only drive more women to back-alley butchers like Kermit Gosnell.
From the lack of funding available for low-income women to access abortion services, to the sharp decline of reputable providers in Pennsylvania, to the gross negligence of authorities to enforce the law after complaints were filed against Gosnell, each aspect of this case must be a teachable moment for lawmakers: until we reject the politicization of women’s medical care and leave these decisions where they belong — between a woman and her family and her doctor — women will never be safe. The horrifying story of Kermit Gosnell is a peek into the world before Roe v. Wade made legal a woman’s right to make her own choices.
We come full circle; it was the pro-choice movement that first wrote and talked about Gosnell, to pre-empt any sensationalism about the case. It was the pro-life movement, last month, that nudged the press into covering it again…
My emphasis. The anti-choice coalition wanted to use Gosnell as a weapon against women; I’m glad NARAL has been out there fighting the lies and misinterpretations.
grape_crush
We come full circle; it was the pro-choice movement that first wrote and talked about Gosnell, to pre-empt any sensationalism about the case. It was the pro-life movement, last month, that nudged the press into covering it again…
Actually, I didn’t hear about the Gosnell case at all until the anti-choicers made it into a rally cry.
Is it fair to say now that we lefties aren’t the ones driving what the media picks up on, or do we have to go through a few more BENGHAZI! and IRS non-troversies for that to happen?
If it ever happens, that is.
Villago Delenda Est
I didn’t hear about it until the vermin of the MSM chose to pay attention to it because the forced birthers were screaming their diseased heads off about it.
piratedan
@grape_crush: i’m afraid that the media has always had a less than favorable view of the left (at least as evidenced by the last few decades). They’re anti-union, anti-women (unless they’re being used to generate ratings) and anti-damnneareverything else as far as the left might be concerned (environment, military buildup, social rights, income inequity, etc etc etc). We talk about the cabal of folks like the Koch Brothers as being the source of all evil, for me it’s the decision makers in the media, who decide what is “newsworthy” and what the frame of the story should consist of.
for evidence, just trot over to msn.com… the headline, “Abortion provider found guilty of murder”
MrSnrub
I live in Philadelphia and I didn’t even hear about it until the story was foisted upon me.
Chris
@grape_crush:
I just find it interesting that this entire thing is being spun as “liberal media bias,” yet by all accounts Fox News and the rest of the conservative media were equally guilty of “covering up” (e.g. not discussing) this thing for the last two years.
Roger Moore
@grape_crush:
Which says more about what the press pays attention to than anything else. Pro-choice groups did their best to publicize what he did when the story first broke, but the national media let the story fade very quickly. It wasn’t until the anti-choicers made a big deal out of it (and he finally went to trial) that it got major media attention. Then the anti-choice crowd lied and claimed cover-up.
grape_crush
@Chris: (e.g. not discussing)
Either it wasn’t widely known or there was an effort not to talk about that topic in the runup to the elections.
Now it just seems like the right throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the media to try to cover up for their lack of an agenda and failure to do anything resembling governance…just biding their time until the next Presidential election.
gvg
I heard about it when it happened originally, here among other places. Then it faded from view and I didn’t see that as surprising as the verdict was very obvious, no suspense at all. The point it was very like pre Roe versus Wade was made-also obvious. Not really much to cover except gruesomness. It’s always kind of random which icky stories will get big coverage in the news. They can’t cover them all.
There was no cover up. I had no problem with it coming back in the news either. thought the anti choicers were making a mistake to bring it back from their best interests but that was fine by me.
Only questions are will Pennsylvania do anything to fix the source of the problem. Haven’t heard any reason for hope yet.
Roger Moore
@grape_crush:
It isn’t necessarily a conspiracy. It could be a simple example of the news being worried about other stuff when the case first came out, letting it drop, and only now getting excited about it because it’s coming to trial. Of course the conservatives are going to scream about liberal coverups, but that doesn’t mean that there’s anything real going on even with the conservative decision to cover now.
freemark
Once you outlaw abortions, only outlaws will perform abortions.
Roger Moore
@freemark:
You may think that’s a counter-argument, but others would disagree. If abortion is outlawed, doctors who perform them will be outlaws, and the wingnuts will be able to use the power of the state to kill them rather than having to murder them willy-nilly. They see that as a win.
Chris
@Roger Moore:
The logic of “liberal coverup” kind of flies in the face of the media’s willingness to bend over backwards repeating wingnut memes on the IRS, Benghazi, ACORN, “our out of control deficit,” the nature of the Tea Party Movement, and even utterly farcical stuff like Obama’s birth certificate and Obamacare’s death panels. Hard to find any examples of them providing that kind of cover for liberal memes, ever.
The explanation that the media tends to underreport stories that come out of poor neighborhoods is far more likely an explanation, and it also explains why conservative and mainstream media alike ignored the story for two years.
wiscomom
Will the pro-life forces want the death penalty? Just asking as a Catholic who doesn’t tend to listen to my bishops.
dance around in your bones
When I read about this case, the first thing I thought was “This is what you get when abortion is not legal, regulated, and readily available for those who need it”.
It’s totally sick that r-wingers/conservatives would hold this up as an example of what abortion REALLY IS since they have been driving towards this for years. Heckofajob, wingers.
Todd
More NARAL fail.
Forty years of pisspoor messaging have come to roost at the feet of NARAL, and it aint pretty. Somehow, we are supposed to believe that a Helen Reddy style chorus of voices that shrieked “my choice, men just need to SHUT UP” was really defending everyone from having the church interfere in their medical choices via the government. Likewise, we’re supposed to believe that the deafening nothing heard from Philadelphia was the sound of choice activists coming down hard on an asshole.
They got the most profoundly far reaching libertarian opinion from a court ever, and allowed giggling conservatards to go into mocking mode over the very real issues of privacy. Imagine the ramifications for LGBT issues had the NARAL folks properly defended Blackmuns gift in the 1970s, instead of turning it into an issue which only applied to women. Imagine what it would have done for folks who needed assisted suicide. Imagine issues related to medical marijuana.
Fucking failures.
aimai
@Todd: Oh fuck off. That is so incoherent I can’t even tell what you think you are arguing, and I can’t be bothered to waste time trying to figure it out.
Todd
The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. Every single week, I deal with calls regarding young women 17-22 who have gone ahead and had babies with the most atrocious losers imaginable. About 2 of 3 had little chance in life to begin with, and a D&C is barely on their radar, plus, they deem it expensive. The other third come from right to lifer families who are initially eager to slut shame. Those girls will tell me how this child is the greatest thing in their lives, but their eyes are sad when they say it, as they’re now tied to place and visitation schedule and court hearings over everything from How they spend Christmas Day to child support.
Todd
@aimai:
The reflexive “men have nothing to say” rhetoric screwed it all up.
Roger Moore
@Todd:
No, the actual “Todd can’t express himself clearly” problem cropped up.
Joel
The sad reality is that humanitarian causes for humanitarian purposes fail to draw media interest BECAUSE they fail to draw consumer interest. Partisanship is only one way to draw “interest” but it sure is an effective one, especially for conservatives.
The prophet Nostradumbass
“Abortionist”?
grape_crush
@Roger Moore: but that doesn’t mean that there’s anything real going on even with the conservative decision to cover now.
Yeah, you’re probably right. Too much of me trying to figure out what the angle or ulterior motive is.
Heliopause
Which makes as much sense as using Scott Harrington as a weapon against dentistry.
burnspbesq
@Todd:
Well, that’s certainly a different way of thinking about Roe.
catpal
the Gosnell case is horrible but his crime is practicing BAD Medicine as a BAD doctor — which is very common in PA — cause the PA State Board of Medicine gets complaints about Bad doctors very often — and does NOTHING.
Doctor Bribes State Medical Board
so that Doctor BRIBED the PA State Medical board member — and is still practicing today.
So the Medical Board Knew that Gosnell was a Bad doctor since the 1990s — and did nothing — why isn’t the PA State Medical Board on Trial also?