Gosnell and Horror: Where is Our Horror for Every Child Lost to Abortion?

Today I’m breaking my blog silence on something that has been on everyone’s mind this month, the abomination that is the Gosnell murder machine. I can’t bring myself to refer to this man who is currently on trial for eight counts of murder as “Doctor”. He is clearly a monster. I am opposed to the death penalty, but I hope that they find a very uncomfortable prison cell for this demon for the rest of his natural life. He deserves every bit of punishment he can get, and yet the reminder of Blessed Pope John Paul II’s epic forgiveness of his shooter reminds me to pray for conversion for Gosnell while I beseech God’s comfort for his victims.

Yesterday on Twitter, we witnessed the power of social media to call attention to the truth. While #Gosnell was trending for much of the day, I was praying about having been called out for not blogging on the topic. Although you — my Patheos readers — have not asked for an explanation, I feel I owe it to you. Here are a few of my thoughts on my own personal non-comment, in no particular order:

• I didn’t know what to say. The horrors of this case are unspeakable. I’m far more comfortable blogging about happy stuff like books, movies, geek tools and gameshow winning nuns.
• I felt others were better positioned to give you the truth. We have a whole team of bloggers here at Patheos, and many of them have tackled this head-on far more eloquently than I could ever hope to do.
• I am in anguish over this story. Frankly, watching the video below brought me to tears, and this is mild compared to some of what is floating around the blogsphere about Gosnell’s house of horrors.

I’m ending my silence here today not because I’ve found the answers to any of those dilemmas. I still contend that others can keep you up to date in a more effective fashion. Rather, I feel compelled to share something about this story that is nagging at my heart:

Where is our horror for every child lost to abortion?

In asking this, I absolutely don’t mean to minimize what happened to the victims — both the babies and the mothers — of the Gosnell tragedy. It’s clear from what coverage we’ve seen that this was far more than one man’s horrific quest for money. It’s obvious that institutional malfaisance fed the problem and allowed it to continue for decades. My heart breaks for every woman ever touched by this monster, every precious baby’s soul sent to heaven far too soon.

But what about the others?

What about the babies being killed in clean medical offices not five miles from my suburban home, by credentialed doctors who submit to — and regularly pass — required institutional inspections? What about those killed by the “morning after pill” or before their third month in the womb, before they have tiny feet to be cut off by a sadistic madman like Gosnell?

Where is our horror for every child lost to abortion?

I’m asking myself today why this story has to remind me of the scourge of abortion, why it takes the actions of a crazy bigoted murder to pull my head out of the sand. Today, I don’t really have any answers, only sadness, contrition, prayer and resolve.