Life Links 4/22/13

Longtime abortion advocate and abortionist David Grimes tries to intentionally deceive Washington Post readers with this quote. 

David Grimes, former head of the CDC's abortion surveillance branch, said clinics like Gosnell's were commonplace before Roe v. Wade, the court case that legalized abortion. Today, the problem of substandard clinics is so small that the branch, which investigated problem clinics, no longer exists, he said.

"The legalization of abortion stands out as a public health triumph," he said. "Over 1,000 women died every year from illegal abortion in the 1940s. Now it's less than a handful a year. That's the story, not one aberrant doctor in Philadelphia."

Wait.  1,000 women died every year in the 1940's?  Wasn't abortion legalized in the 1970's?  Why is Grimes using statistics from 30 years before abortion was legalized to make his case? 

Oh yeah, that's right.  In 1972, 39 women (as opposed to over a thousand) died from illegal abortion.  An additional 24 women died from legal abortion in 1972. 


The Post also has a column about abortion myths by Rickie Solinger which unsurprisingly is filled with its own myths.  Ramesh Ponnuru points out that Solinger can't even cite the source of one of her claims accurately. 
   

Gosnell turned down several plea deals. 

Dr. Gosnell has rejected several plea deals from prosecutors, the last before jury selection started March 4. The offer would have let him serve life in a federal prison rather than in the Pennsylvania system, and let his wife, Pearl, 52, keep their West Philadelphia home.

Philadelphia's NBC affiliate has an article on how the reaction of Gosnell's jury have become less visible. 

"It was way more visible, the reaction of the jurors, in the beginning. You could read the emotion on their faces," Khalil said.

As time marched on, however, jurors barely reacted, according to Khalil, at even the most gruesome details or images.

"There's only so much the brain can handle," said Gomez, who has a Ph.D. in Psychology. "It's not that it becomes less disturbing or upsetting, but it's just not as shocking."