As the fourth week of the murder trial of Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell draws to a close, the media blackout of one of the most hideous stories in modern American history continues.
If your primary sources of news are ABC, CBS, NBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, you would be oblivious to the testimony of a clinic employee describing how he witnessed the virtual beheading of at least 100 babies born alive after unsuccessful abortions. Gosnell is alleged to have snipped the necks of the babies with scissors in order to sever their spinal cords. A witness says “blood and fetuses” covered the place. A grand-jury report states babies’ remains were stuffed in bags, cabinets and plastic jugs. Babies’ feet allegedly were stored in jars. Yet the clinic had many “repeat customers” — according to testimony elicited as a defense.
The butchering of 100 babies (at the very least), as far as the mainstream media is concerned, is far less newsworthy than the horrors of opposition research on Ashley Judd. The Times did make perfunctory mention of Gosnell at the commencement of the trial. It ran on page A17. In contrast, the Times ran the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse story on the front page . . . for 32 consecutive days.
Apples and oranges, perhaps. But if there were any parity in news coverage by the elite media, reporters would be asking for comment about the Gosnell trial from a representative of the abortion industry, lawmakers would be pressed on a legislative response, and editorials would abound on the need to protect society’s most vulnerable. You know the drill.
Indeed, if there were even a hint of news-coverage parity, reporters would be asking the president to explain his past opposition to legislation that would protect babies born alive after an abortion attempt. Just thirty seconds of his time. Less time than is spent asking your average congressman to rebuke a colleague for making a politically incorrect remark. The press does that all the time — to people they disagree with.
Instead, major media occupy themselves with Halle Berry’s “baby bump.” There are at least 100 murdered babies that deserve at least a fraction of that coverage. A press corps that can’t bring itself to even mention the story is not merely biased, not simply callous. It is sick.