BY KIRSTEN ANDERSEN
Thu Oct 17, 2013 16:38 EST
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 17, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After a contentious special election battle that saw a predicted coronation become a competition, Democrat Cory Booker has defeated Republican Steve Lonegan in their mutual bid to replace Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who died in June.
In a special election held Wednesday in New Jersey, Booker received 55 percent of the vote while Lonegan received 44 percent. This was an improved showing for Republicans in the solidly blue state, where President Barack Obama received 58 percent of the vote in 2012, and where the most recent Senate election saw the Democratic candidate get 58.4 percent of the vote to the Republican candidate’s 39.9 percent.
Booker received 55 percent of the vote while Lonegan received 44 percent.
In the final days before the special election, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a registered Independent, flooded Booker’s campaign with $1 million in extra cash to help seal the Democratic contender’s victory. Bloomberg is noted for his liberal social views, which align more closely with Booker’s platform than Lonegan’s.
Those social views took center stage during the run-up to the special election. In a political climate that has seen many campaigns minimize controversial social issues in favor of popular fiscal catchphrases like “job creation” and “tax reform,” Booker and Lonegan took the opposite approach, exchanging frequent verbal blows about social issues ranging from gay adoption to partial birth abortion.
Booker, 44, is the current mayor of Newark and a vehement supporter of both abortion-on-demandand homosexual causes. In developing his platform, he sought guidance and support from NARAL Pro-Choice America, who encouraged him to broaden his support for taxpayer funding of abortion. Booker also co-chaired the most recent Democratic National Convention, at which he successfully pushed to remove the word “rare” from the part of the party platform that used to say abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” Liberal commentator Cokie Roberts later confronted Booker about theconvention, calling it “over the top” in its support for abortion-on-demand.
In a phone interview last Thursday with LifeSiteNews.com, Republican hopeful Steve Lonegan pulled no punches about his pro-life, pro-family stance.
“I’m about as pro-life as they come,” Lonegan told LifeSiteNews.com. “Life begins at conception, and I hold the sanctity of human life at the highest level of respect.”
During the campaign, Booker frequently criticized Lonegan for his opposition to abortion even in the case of rape and incest. Lonegan , however, was unapologetic.
“I think it’s hypocritical and illogical to state that you believe life begins at conception, that a life is sacred, unless that life was created under bad circumstances,” Lonegan told LifeSiteNews. “Rape is a terrible thing. But you don’t punish an innocent baby for that.”
According to Monmouth University political scientist Patrick Murray, the relative closeness of the race should be a warning sign to Booker, who turned voters off not only with his extreme views on abortion, but with questions about his integrity in the face of scandals, including a $700,000 severance payment from his former law firm that many viewed as a kickback in exchange for a $2 million government contract, and shady dealings with tech startup Waywire.
Murray told USA Today, “Even if they don't show up in as great a number as Republicans, you're still looking at a significant advantage for any Democrat running statewide. And so Booker needs to take a lesson from this.”
While Murray said that “a double-digit win is still a double-digit win,” he warned Booker that his victory was “nowhere near the kind of win that the underlying dynamics suggested should happen.”
Added Murray, “[Booker] has to work harder to prove to New Jerseyans that he is in it to serve them.”
New Jerseyans will not have to wait long to weigh in on Booker’s worthiness. His election to the Senate is valid only through early 2015, when Lautenberg’s terms would have expired. He will face re-election in November 2014.
Correction: We originally identified Michael Bloomberg as a Republican, but he left the party in 2007 and is currently registered as in Independent. We regret the error.
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Mon Oct 14, 2013 13:02 EST
CLEVELAND, October 14, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A notorious abortion facility run by a late-term abortionist is officially closed, Ohio Right to Life reports.
This morning activists verified that the Center for Women's Health in Cleveland, whose closure was announced in September, had in fact shut its doors.
Its abortionist, Dr. Martin Ruddock, specialized in late-term abortion. According to Abby Johnson, Ruddock helped contribute to the development of the partial birth abortion technique and performed abortions up to 30 weeks gestation.
In 1997, a co-worker said the partial birth abortion method of dilation and extraction – in which a child is partially delivered, then has his skull punctured with scissors and brains suctioned out – was Ruddock's “surgery of choice” for women after 20 weeks gestation.
Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a bill banning abortion after 20 weeks if the child is found to be viable outside the womb, which undercut Ruddock's practice. Ruddock told associates he may move to another state with less restrictive laws.
Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said his departure reflected Ohio's mainstream values.
"The fact that this late-term abortionist closed down and moved out of this state demonstrates that common sense pro-life legislation saves lives," he said. "Ohioans overwhelming oppose late-term abortions and reject these despicable practices by so-called doctors like Martin Ruddock and the abortion industry."
The late-term abortionist has a long history of botched abortions, hurting women, and violating state regulations.
Last November, Ruddock's facility called 911 to report a patient had been hurt and was “bleeding bad.” Just weeks earlier, Ruddock personally dialed emergency personnel after a 26-year-old woman began having adverse effects from an abortion he performed.
Ruddock attempted to defend himself during 911 calls, telling one operator, “I'm a surgeon!”
In 2003, he complained of an “obese” patient's excessive bleeding, telling the 911 emergency responder the woman was stable. “I just can’t stop the bleeding,” he said. “I can’t see what I’m doing, and I want her out of here.”
In 2006, the Ohio Department of Health temporarily closed Ruddock's suburban Cleveland business for more than a dozen violations of the state code, including not taking patients' vital signs before surgery and lacking an emergency transfer agreement with a local hospital.
"It appears that Martin Ruddock had a consistent track record for disregarding health standards and putting women's lives in danger," Gonidakis said. "Women are safer today in Cuyahoga County, because this abortion clinic is closed.”
Despite – or perhaps because of – his record, Ruddock has fought additional safety and health regulations from the state for more than a decade. In 1999, he said that, as "a private physician's office, we don't need to qualify as an ambulatory facility.” He added that more stringent measures to protect women "are burdensome and unnecessary regulations that have nothing to do with quality health care."
The closure of Center for Women's Health, located in the tony suburb of Shaker Heights, is the state's third in six months.
Another facility where Ruddock plies is trade, the Center for Choice located in Toledo, was closed in June after none of its practitioners could not win admitting privileges at local hospitals, as required by a new Ohio law.
Cleveland's Capital Care Network also closed this year.
Nationwide, CWH was the 44th abortion business to close this year, according to Operation Rescue.
“When abortionists like Ruddock shut down, it takes us one step closer to an end to abortion,” said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue.
Gonidakis hopes Newman is right. He said, “We hope that more abortion clinics will close, innocent lives will be saved, and that the abortion industry will continue to be exposed for what it truly.”
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BY OPERATION RESCUE STAFF
Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:42 EST
Albuquerque, NM, Oct. 7, 2013 (OperationRescue) – In a historic effort to become the first city in America to ban late-term abortions beginning at 20 weeks after fertilization, the campaign “ABQ Voters For Late-Term Abortion Ban” launches today.
On November 19, the citizens of Albuquerque will cast their votes on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance, which is supported by 54% of the people, according to a recent ABQ Journal poll. A grassroots coalition gathered 27,000 signatures in just 20 days to place this ordinance on the ballot.
“While putting forth this ordinance has been a local grass-roots effort, this election has important national implications. We believe that the good people of Albuquerque will rise to the occasion and do the right thing to protect these babies who are just a few short weeks or, in some cases, days from birth,” stated Tara Shaver, Chairperson of ABQ Voters For Late-Term Abortion Ban.
New Mexico is one of only nine states that allow post-viability abortions. It lacks abortion laws that provide even basic safety standards or informed consent, making its abortion policies more akin to those found in Communist China and Korea than in the rest of America. The largest late-term abortion clinic in the U.S. – one of only four in the nation – operates in Albuquerque.
The campaign will attract the national spotlight to Albuquerque and will focus on raising awareness through an intensive “Get Out the Vote” effort primarily aimed at people of faith. It will help voters navigate the mechanics of casting their “for” votes in support of the proposed ordinance.
Each week, women come to Albuquerque from all over the world to have abortions in their fifth month of pregnancy and beyond. Shelley Sella has done abortions as late as the 35th week of pregnancy in Albuquerque. She understands that the grisly process on nearly full-term babies has little public support, stating that the delivery of a dead baby that was killed with a lethal injection to the heart “sounds barbaric.”
“Albuquerque has the opportunity to be the first city in the nation to ban late-term abortions. Because the grisly procedures are done on women from every state, we are calling on all national pro-life groups to help us make this happen,” said Shaver.
While the Albuquerque effort is a local one, it has the support of several national pro-life organizations, including Operation Rescue.
ABQ Voters For Late-Term Abortion Ban is now accepting contributions to its Political Action Committee to fund the campaign. Donations can be made by visiting LateTermAbortionBan.com.
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Oct. 3, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a move that came as absolutely no surprise to political watchers, who have been expecting the announcement for weeks, Texas Sen. Wendy Davis today made official her run for state governor.
Davis, who rocketed to national prominence and became a darling of the left as a result of a dramatic 11-hour filibuster earlier this summer against a state late-term abortion ban, announced her candidacy via e-mail and social media, before taking the stage at Wiley G. Thomas Jr. Coliseum.
"We love Texas not only for how good it is, but for how great we know it can be," Davis told a crowd of assembled supporters. "With the right kind of leadership, the great state of Texas will keep its sacred promise that where you start has nothing to do with how far you can go."
News of Davis' candidacy drew a swift response from Texas pro-life activists.
Outside the auditorium where Davis made the announcement a group of protesters had already gathered, bearing signs reading, "No to Wendy, No to Murder," according to The Chronicle.
Texas Right to Life issued a statement accusing Davis of being “a leader in the war on women, making sure that pregnant women fall prey to the substandard care at Texas abortion mills.”
In an ad that will begin playing on radio stations this weekend, the pro-life group labels Davis an "abortion zealot," pointing out that she opposes any limits on abortion, and has called abortion “sacred ground.”
“Wendy Davis puts late term abortion ahead of our faith, our families, and Texas values,” says the ad. “Wendy Davis believes terminating babies even after 1/2 way through the pregnancy is okay. She is wrong on life, wrong for our children, and wrong for Texas.”
Davis’ filibuster, with the assistance of a mob of unruly protesters who shouted down a vote, temporarily derailed the highly contentious late-term abortion ban, which also included stricter health regulations on abortion clinics, and restrictions on medical abortions. However, the bill subsequently passed after Gov. Rick Perry called a special session.
Perry, considered by many to be one of the strongest pro-life politicians in the country, will be stepping down following the election next November.
In her bid for the governorship, Davis will be going head to head with Texas attorney general, Greg Abbot, who has a strong pro-life record.
"Once again, Texas Democrats are attempting to conjure support for California-style candidates that try to sell Obama's liberal agenda and go against what makes Texas great,” said Abbott in a statement released Thursday.
"Nonetheless, we welcome Senator Davis to the race, and look forward to presenting the clear differences and debating the important issues that will preserve the economic miracle in Texas."
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Wednesday, October 2, 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 1, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – If you watched the news today, you might believe it was the only part of the government that was functioning. While the media presented images of the federal government closing monuments that do not close, they stated that the new law allowing citizens to sign up for ObamaCare was open for business.
President Obama held a press conference on the eve of the partial government shutdown to tell the Republican-controlled House, “The Affordable Care Act is moving forward.”
“That funding is already in place. You can’t shut it down,” Obama taunted yesterday afternoon.
By 8 a.m. Eastern time, the website HealthCare.gov and associated toll-free phone numbers went live to enroll citizens in local health care exchanges.
The new health care law could finance as much as 10 percent of all abortions nationwide each year. The Charlotte Lozier Institute found that the total number of taxpayer-funded abortions could increase by 18,397 in one year. But the number could range from 71,000 to 111,500.
There are indications this was part of the law's design. Roll Call newspaper reported than an anonymous source within the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) told it “the multistate plans will help [the Obama administration] ‘ensure that in each exchange, there is at least one plan available that covers abortions beyond those allowed by the Hyde Amendment and at least one plan that does not cover abortions beyond those permitted by the Hyde Amendment.”
Aside from direct funding for abortion, Planned Parenthood will benefit from providing contraceptives and vouchers for health care performed by others.
Planned Parenthood affiliates in Iowa, Montana, and New Hampshire also received $655,000 in taxpayer funds to hire and train “navigators.” These Planned Parenthood employees would haveaccess to a vast federal database of sensitive information, including the Social Security number, tax form, bank account, and medical records of every single U.S. citizen.
Navigators are supposed to use this information to help citizens sign up for the best insurance plan based on their circumstances. However, it opens the door to identity theft, fraud, and invasion of privacy.
The navigators' training manual, Health Insurance Marketplace Navigator Standard Operating Procedures Manual, instructs navigators, "Do not leave documents that contain PII [Personally Identifiable Information] or tax return information on printers and fax machines" and to “double-check that the recipient’s fax number is correct, and that someone is able to pick up the faxed information immediately.”
Many of the players involved also raise eyebrows. The British company that received a $1.25 billion federal contract from HHS to process applications in the 36 federally operated state exchanges, Serco, is under investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office for allegedly charging the government for services it had not rendered.
Planned Parenthood itself recently agreed to a $4.3 million Medicaid fraud settlement with the state of Texas and is under national investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Nonetheless, Iowa had no navigators as of Friday – an indication the law is, in the words of Congressional critics, “not ready for primetime.”
The law's stated purpose is to reduce the number of uninsured Americans. But despite the federal expansion, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 33 million Americans will still be uninsured 10 years from now, when the price of the law will reach $1.8 trillion, or double the $900 billion originally promised. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that only 13 percent of uninsured Americans even knew enrollment began today.
A Gallup poll found one-quarter of uninsured people plan on paying the fine for violating the individual mandate instead.
Two-thirds of respondents say they will buy insurance, but only 48 percent say they will use the ACA's state exchanges to do so. More than one-third (36 percent) say they certainly will not.
Under the law's terms, anyone 27 years of age or older must sign up for health insurance by March 31, 2014, or pay a fine of $95 or one percent of income, whichever is higher. Penalties increase in the coming years. Penalties rise to $695 or 2.5 percent of income by 2016.
The Obama administration is appealing to its core constituencies to enroll, swelling the rolls of the newly insured.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the National Council of La Raza are marketing ObamaCare to Hispanics.
Meanwhile, lesbian activist Maria De La O wrote in The Washington Post today, “ObamaCare is good for the LGBT community, whether like me, you currently enjoy employer-sponsored health care via a partner’s job, or whether like one in three of us, you currently don’t have health insurance at all.”
This morning's rollout proved less than triumphant, as Americans found the HealthCare.gov's servers swamped. Once they got in, the website proved bug-ridden and unhelpful. President Obama predicted “glitches and bumps,” joining HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in likening the unveiling to Apple computer's occasionally fixing bugs in its software.
But “every glitch is a human being" who could become frustrated, said a former Bush-41 administration Medicare director.
Already, the law is less popular by the day, the opposite of what Congressional Democrats predicted when they passed the law in 2009. A growing number of companies are cutting back workers' hours to avoid ObamaCare costs.
And as premiums rise, a larger percentage of low-income Americans may be priced out of the market altogether.
House members, many of them elected during the historic blowout 2010 midterm elections, attempted to defund ObamaCare or postpone its implementation for one year during the government shutdown battle – something President Obama's spokesman Jay Carney likened to extortion
“The president seems to say that any effort to continue the health care debate is an effort to undo his reelection,” said former Virginia Governor John Gilmore, who is now president of the Free Congress Foundation. “Remember, the House of Representatives got elected, too.”
“Why is the House disqualified from participation?” he asked. “Does the president's view challenge our Constitutional system?”
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WASHINGTON, D.C., September 30, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As President Obama and Senate Democrats stand their ground, House Republicans have dropped provisions barring the funding of abortion and delaying the HHS mandate for one year.
Early Sunday morning, the House approved the two measures as part of a bill to keep most federal programs funded and avoid a government shutdown. The bill included zero funding for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), conventionally known as ObamaCare.
As promised, Senate Democrats stripped the provisions out of the continuing resolution on a party line, 54-46 vote.
Regrouping, the House GOP abandoned the pro-life and religious liberty provisions from the bill.
Their new proposal instead delays ObamaCare's individual mandate for one year and eliminates subsidies for Congressional staffers' health insurance.
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said he was “disappointed,” because the new bill “ignores the threat to religious freedom that ObamaCare poses and does nothing to address the abortion subsidies that will take effect.”
David Christensen, FRC's director of Congressional affairs, agreed this afternoon that the Republican proposal “doesn't fix the problem of abortion subsidies [and] doesn't fix the problem of” personal conscience violations.
Under the terms of the Affordable Care Act's HHS mandate, employers must provide all employees with insurance plans that include abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception with no co-pay, or pay a fine of $100 per employee per day.
The House had not voted on the new bill as of press time. However, the Senate is certain to reject it, as its Democratic leadership has said it will not negotiate with the House.
The rhetoric surrounding this issue has become so polarized that Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent who aligns with the Democrats, has said opponents of ObamaCare are “guilty of murder.”
On Monday afternoon President Obama remained defiant, telling National Public Radio, “I shouldn’t have to offer anything” to House Republicans in exchange for the support of his signature health care bill.
Instead, Obama said a partial government shutdown is “entirely preventable if the House chooses to do what the Senate has already done, and that's the simple act of funding our government without making extraneous and controversial demands in the process.”
However, it is ObamaCare that is controversial and increasingly unpopular, with less than 40 percent of Americans approving of the measure.
The Republicans who control the House of Representatives hoped to tie a delay in its implementation to a must-pass bill to keep the government operating at its current levels.
The government runs out of money, and ObamaCare is set to go into effect for individuals, at midnight.
Congressman Darrell Issa, R-CA, suggested the House up the ante by forcing members of the Obama administration to sign up for the same benefits the are foisting on the American people. The Affordable Care Act exempts them from enrolling in what is acknowledged as inferior health care.
Michael F. Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, said that is the only provision that could assure the successful delay of the Obama health care bill. Without such a threat, he believes their actions are doomed to failure.
“It’s great that House Republicans are sending the Senate a bill delaying ObamaCare for a year,” hewrote. “Why don’t they want it to pass?”
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Thursday, September 26, 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 25, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Senator Ted Cruz's 21-hour epic floor speech to defund ObamaCare may have won him no friends in the media or GOP leadership, but pro-life and conservative leaders are enthusiastic about his efforts.
“Thank you Senator Cruz for giving a voice to all of us!” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, this morning.
Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, simply said, “Ted Cruz is the man!”
meone invited me to a reception for a candidate for Texas U.S. Senator,” Newman continued. “It was some guy I never heard of named Ted Cruz. So, I went, and I thought, 'Wow this guy is great! But can he win?' Oh yeah, and Ted Cruz is winning today!”
Other conservatives praised Cruz's actions, contrasting his passion with that of the president.
“Ted Cruz stayed up all night to fight ObamaCare,” Congressman Steve Stockman, R-TX, quipped on Wednesday morning. “Obama went to bed while Ambassador Stevens [of Libya] was being murdered.”
Others on the other side of the aisle were less receptive.
California Democratic Congressman Mark Takano, a supporter of abortion-on-demand, tweeted a photo parodying Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift's video awards' acceptance speech: “Ted Cruz, Ima let you finish but Wendy Davis had the greatest filibuster of all time!”
A veritable host of news outlets and pro-life leaders pointed out how the media's coverage of Cruz's speech conflicted with its prior reports of Wendy Davis' 11-hour filibuster in the Texas Senate, in which they lionized the pro-abortion Democrat for temporarily stalling the passage of a 20-week abortion ban and tighter health standards for abortion facilities.
The New York Times described Davis' speech as “The Great Abortion Filibuster,” while yesterday's editorial headline derided “The Embarrassment of Senator Ted Cruz.”
The Huffington Post called Davis' actions “The Filibuster Heard 'Round the World,” while saying,“Cruz Hijacks Senate.”
Talking Points Memo writer Josh Marshall called Cruz an “arrogant jerk.”
Even Politico acknowledged a double-standard.
At the time of Davis' filibuster, Cruz told the media that most Texans still oppose abortion. Wendy Davis declined to comment on Cruz's speech.
Davis is mulling over whether to run for governor of Texas, a decision she will make by October 3.
Cruz clearly has an eye on his own political aspirations. Polls showed the freshman senator a leading contender for the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination before the speech, but the speech has boosted Cruz's stock in the eyes of crucial primary voters.
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Tuesday, September 24, 2013
A conservative super PAC, Virginia Principles Fund, will go on the air Monday with a $300,000 TV buy to attack Terry McAuliffe’s support for abortion rights and to criticize his business record.
Sarah Huckabee, who runs the organization, said the group’s research shows the Democrat’s position on abortion is “one of his greatest vulnerabilities in this race.” McAuliffe is running for governor of Virginia against Republican Ken Cuccinelli.
The anti-abortion ad, shared early with POLITICO, will run in the Norfolk and Roanoke media markets with roughly 1,000 gross rating points in each.
“The gift of life: innocent, beautiful, a miracle from God and our responsibility to protect,” a female narrator says softly as a young girl lays her head on a pregnant mother’s tummy and another mother softly kisses a newborn’s forehead. ”Terry McAuliffe supports abortion on demand at any time for any reason — paid for by Virginia taxpayers!”
A second spot hitting McAuliffe’s ties to bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing will run in the Richmond market.
“Virginians are hurting: not enough good-paying jobs, working two or more jobs to pay the bill,” the narrator says in that ad. “Terry McAuliffe talks about what he’ll do to help, but what has he done? Terry McAuliffe got rich off a company that went bankrupt and laid off 10,000 workers. Ten thousand workers lost their jobs, their health care, their livelihood while McAuliffe made millions.”
The tagline of both spots is, “Terry McAuliffe: Not our values, wrong for Virginia.”
The McAuliffe campaign has focused much of its advertising — especially in Northern Virginia — on Cuccinelli’s views on social issues, and abortion-rights groups are also plotting heavy flights of ads ahead of November’s election.
“Considering that Ken Cuccinelli wants to make abortion illegal even in cases of rape and incest, has tried to outlaw common forms of birth control like the pill and even said his ultimate goal is to make abortion disappear in America, it’s no surprise that his extreme friends would try to come in and rescue him by launching false and misleading attacks,” said McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/ads-to-hit-terry-mcauliffe-on-abortion-business-97192.html#ixzz2fqPSzVVz
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Monday, September 23, 2013
PHILADELPHIA, September 23, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell, whose trial for murder and infanticide laid bare the dark underbelly of the abortion industry, told a journalist in a forthcoming interview that believes that he was a “soldier” out to eradicate poverty...one dead baby at a time.
The “house of horrors” abortionist, who is serving three consecutive life sentences for murdering at least three newborns, made his comments during an interview with Steve Volk of Philadelphia Magazine. The full article will hit news stands tomorrow.
Volk told ABC News that he discovered during his extensive interviews that, far from showing remorse, Gosnell “sees himself as having performed a noble function in society.”
“In this larger spiritual sense, he believes he was performing a service for people,” Volk said.
"It's not as if he feels guilty about what he did,” Volk said. "He believes he was a soldier at war with poverty.”
Gosnell's abortion facility, the Women's Medical Society, was located at 3801 Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia and preyed upon lower income women. Two of them, Semika Shaw and Karnamaya Mongar, died while in his care.
According to ABC News, “Gosnell said that one death in 40 years of practice does not indicate a poor record.”
Mongar, a native of Bhutan, died in 2009 after untrained staff administered an overdose of Demerol. Gosnell's second-in-command, Eileen O'Neill, was later convicted on multiple counts for practicing medicine without a license.
“He has a sense of righteousness, that whatever rule he broke, it was worth it,” he said.
"He believes if he could have spoken about his rationale for doing things, he wouldn't be in jail,” Volk said. “He believes he was in a war, and that 'they' won."
It is unclear that pro-life politics played any role in his conviction. Nine of the 12 Gosnell jury members described themselves as “pro-choice.”
Gosnell's self-confidence is anything but new. Defense attorney Jack McMahon told reporters after the verdict that the murderer“truly believes in himself.”
Gosnell ran a filthy facility that broke state law hundreds of times by performing late-term abortions and infanticides until February 2010, when police raided his office on suspicion that he was peddling prescription drugs.
They found cat urine and the blood of his patients – and unborn or newborn victims – staining operating tables and recliners in the “recovery room.” Unsterilized equipment spread STDs between his patients.
In the basement, they found the remains of 47 aborted children packed away in boxes, jugs, and even a lime-ade container. They discovered the doctor regularly allowed babies to be born alive, then cut their spinal column with scissors as they wriggled around in his hands.
According to staff, he once joked, “That's what you call a chicken with its head cut off.” In another instance, he remarked a baby was “big enough to walk me to the bus stop.”
In May, a jury convicted Gosnell of first-degree murder for slicing the spinal cords of three newborn babies with scissors.
Former employees at the medical office, which prosecutors dubbed a “house of horrors,” say they had witnessed the abortionist perform infanticide hundreds of times.
In July, he entered a guilty plea to running a prescription drug operation. According to prosecutors, the abortionist made at least $200,000 peddling prescriptions between June 2008 and February 2010.
Patients paid him $20 per script and gave his employees an additional $10 or $20.
In all, Gosnell earned an estimated $1.8 million a year at his office, lifting himself out of poverty while exploiting that of his patients.
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Friday, September 20, 2013
Cleveland, OH, September 20, 2013 (OperationRescue.org) — In a year of record closures, two more abortion clinics have gone out of business.
Operation Rescue has confirmed that an abortionist who wore a butcher’s apron while injuring a woman during an abortion has closed his Cleveland, Ohio, abortion clinic and is moving out of state.
Meanwhile, a Livingston, Montana, abortion clinic has announced its closure as of October 1, 2013, due to the impending retirement of long-time abortionist Susan Wicklund.
These two closures bring the tally of out-of-business abortion businesses to 44 so far this year.
Martin Ruddock, 77, shuttered his Cleveland Center for Women’s Health abortion clinic last week. Ruddock told a covert Operation Rescue investigator that he “couldn’t” continue to do abortions in Ohio and that he would be “helping women” in another state. Ruddock did not elaborate further.
It is possible that Ruddock could not comply with the hospital transfer agreement requirement that is required for abortionists in Ohio and could be taking employment elsewhere.
“The Center for Women’s Health joins a record list of abortion clinics that have closed so far this year. When abortionists like Ruddock shut down, it takes us one step closer to an end to abortion,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “However, we are concerned about women in whatever state Ruddock might relocate. This aging abortionist isn’t likely to improve his shoddy practices anytime soon.”
In 2006, Ruddock was forced to temporarily close after Ohio Department of Health inspectors discovered that the clinic was not meeting even the most rudimentary of medical standards, such as taking a patient’s temperature and blood pressure before risky late-term abortion surgeries.
In September 2012, Ruddock appeared outside his abortion clinic during a medical emergency wearing what appeared to be a butcher’s apron. He was overseeing the transfer from his abortion clinic to an awaiting ambulance of a 26-year old second-trimester abortion patient suffering from a high fever and disorientation.
Five weeks later, an ambulance transported a 30-year old woman suffering lacerations and heavy bleeding after Ruddock botched her abortion at 22 weeks. Records of a 911 call obtained through open records requests indicated she was “bleeding bad” and passing large blood clots larger than a 50 cent piece.
In Livingston, Montana, the Mountain Country Women’s Clinic has halted all abortions and announced that it will be closing after only four years in business so that its abortionist-owner, Susan Wicklund, can “focus her attention on her health and her family.” Wicklund, 58, has been committing abortions for 26 years and has maintained a high public profile in support of abortion, even publishing a book about her experiences as an abortionist.
Mountain Country Women’s Clinic and Ohio’s Center for Women’s Health are the latest to join the unprecedented and ever-growing list abortion clinic closures across America this year.
Reasons for the closures include:
• A declining abortion rate.
• Increased pro-life sentiment.
• A flood of new state laws that establish abortion standards.
• Increased enforcement of existing laws.
• Retirement of aging abortionists.
• Greater incidents of documentation and reporting of abortion abuses by pro-life activists.
“Interestingly, the abortion cartel is failing due to their bad behavior. Some can’t meet minimum safety standards and close rather than clean up. Others may be able to ensure proper emergency care by failing to secure hospital transfer agreements or privileges. Still others have negligence issues and are forced to close by states that are beginning to inspect and enforce new and existing laws,” said Newman. “This is a trend that we expect to continue until abortion is abolished in our country once and for all.”
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