Life Links 3/3/10

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article in which they attempted to discover how abortionist Kermit Gosnell could have stayed in business so long when such horrible conditions were found at his clinic.

Interviews with state officials, former patients, lawyers, doctors, and activists on both sides of the abortion debate reveal that numerous opportunities to shine a light on Gosnell's problematic practice were missed or not pursued.....

In Pennsylvania, abortion clinics are automatically inspected by the state Department of Health only when they open or relocate. In New Jersey, in contrast, clinics must be inspected every other year.

Gosnell's clinic was so bad, even pro-choice groups are claiming they wouldn't refer women there or fund abortions taking place there.

Gosnell's clinic, at 3801 Lancaster Ave., has never been on CHOICE's referral list because it never submitted to an inspection by the organization, Green said. And because the clinic had a bad reputation, the Women's Medical Fund turned away women who planned to go to there, Schewel said.

Gosnell's license was also temporarily suspended yesterday by the state's Board of Medical Practice.


NPR has an article about how abortion may still be the biggest hurdle for health care reform.


Wesley Smith comments on UK public prosecutor's plan to not prosecute people who assist in suicides.

Thus, in the final rule, the “victim”–whose assisted suicide is less likely to be prosecuted–remains undefined. Rather, the guidelines focus on the motives of the suspect without regard to why the “victim” wanted to die.....

This is nonsense. Even people with the most base motives–as in the George Delury case–will claim that they were solely motivated by compassion and that they tried to dissuade the victim. Indeed, the guidelines write the script!

The FDA has given Advanced Cell Technology an orphan drug status for a proposed treatment they've developed using embryonic stem cells. The treatment still hasn't been approved for a clinical trial.

The FDA gives orphan drug status to treatments for difficult conditions that afflict a small number of people. The designation gives drug developers as much as seven years to exclusively market a treatment after it is approved. Companies are also eligible for tax credits and grants.

Advanced Cell is using stem cells to develop medical treatments. The company has used human embryonic stem cells to generate retinal pigment epithelium cells for the treatment of Stargardt's and is seeking FDA approval to begin a human trial.