Legalizing the despicable action of Dr. Gosnell

The recent New York legislation signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is nothing short of evil. I can't understand why anyone could support this extreme position.

If you missed Adrienne Ross' column in Tuesday's Southeast Missourian, I encourage you to give it a read. She outlined several of the components that have now become a Constitutional right in the Empire State.

It lowers the threshold for who can provide an abortion (it no longer has to be a doctor); murder of a pregnant woman no longer qualifies as a homicide for both mom and baby -- which has been the standard elsewhere; if a child survives an abortion, medical care does not have to be provided.

Who in good conscious can support this behavior? Apparently some lawmakers in Virginia do as a legislative committee voted in support of equally disturbing practices, legalizing the termination of life up to the point of birth. The legislation is tabled for now, but the statements of support from Virginia lawmakers and Gov. Ralph Northam should disturb us all.

This hearkens back to the case of Dr. Kermitt Gosnell, the Pennsylvania doctor who routinely performed abortions in his Philadelphia clinic. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 after being found guilty of three murders. The reality is he performed many other late-term abortions. These were just the ones for which he was found guilty.

"Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer" was released in 2018 and is now available on DVD and on-demand online streaming. I watched the film for the first time this week. It's sickening. The clinic was filthy. Parts of aborted babies kept in storage like you would put canned food in a cabinet. He apparently had a fetish with feet -- jars of discarded parts were retained. Assistants, some who were only teenagers, with no medical background dispensed prescription pain-killers based on a color-coded chart to the women undergoing the abortion procedure. Not to mention the grotesque way he completed the abortions, effectively performing partial-birth delivery then ending the baby's life by using scissors to cut the spinal cord.

In an interview this week with Fox & Friends, Dean Cain, actor and executive producer of the movie, said the New York law and another in Vermont legalize what was illegal for Gosnell to do in Pennsylvania.

It's not an easy film to watch, but it's worth your time to better understand the issue.

For me it's a moral issue. The Bible talks about how the Creator knew us before we were born in our mother's womb. The U.S. Constitution talks about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Life comes first. Without life, liberty and property are meaningless.

Locally, we're blessed with Options for Women, an organization that helps women facing a crisis pregnancy to find life-affirming options for their child. They not only provide help during the pregnancy but also after the child is born. Instead of states promoting the expansion of abortion, lawmakers should champion pro-life crisis pregnancy resources to women -- and the fathers -- during and after the birth of the child. It's also a call for those of us who support the right to life to get involved with these organizations, giving our time and resources for the cause. For children in the womb, it's a life and death issue.

For more information on Options for Women, check out their website at optionsforwomencape.com.

Lucas Presson is assistant publisher of the Southeast Missourian.