Verdict: Gosnell Guilty 5/13/2013

Former abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty of first degree murder of three babies who were born alive following attempted abortion. Dana Cody, Executive Director, Life Legal Defense Foundation released the following statement regarding the verdict:

“It is our hope that this will be the first step in seeing prosecutors, nationwide, enforce the law when children born alive after surviving abortion are murdered.  There are too many clinics that, like Gonsnell, endanger women and children every day.  Exposure of the horror of this clinic may lead to the recognition that abortion is murder both inside and outside the womb.

We are also hopeful that government agencies will begin to better scrutinize abortion clinics and shut down more of them before more women are killed and babies murdered.” Cody added, “We know this type of abortion facility too well from our battle to shut down the New Woman All Women abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. Our legal work led to an inspection of the clinic by the Alabama Department of Public Health. When over 75 health code violations were reported, the clinic’s license to provide abortions was revoked. Yet the battle continues because, despite a consent order, it was recently discovered that NWAW was still in operation.”

The three infants who were murdered by Gosnell have been given names: Baby Adam (A), Baby Alex (C) or Baby Chris (D). Cody concludes, “May this tragedy open our eyes to see the value of life that there may be no more victims of the abortion industry, whether inside or outside the womb.”

Gosnell: the Tip of the Abortion Iceberg

As the evidence mounts, one is left wondering whether Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” is unique, or whether his clinic is merely a very ugly tip of a very ugly iceberg—the abortion industry?

Due in no small degree to continued pressure from pro-life advocates, there has been an increase in media coverage of the unfolding story of abortionist Kermit Gosnell. (LLDF and many other groups strongly condemned the media silence on this “trial of the century.”) Now more than a month into the trial, the jury has completed its second week of deliberations on charges against Gosnell and his employees. The number and variety of crimes charged and the amount of evidence before the jury combine to create a lengthy deliberation process. (See the Grand Jury Report.)

Simultaneous to the trial, evidence is surfacing that Gosnell may not have been an outlier in his practices. He is not alone in running a shoddy, substandard clinic. He is not alone in ignoring basic health and safety regulations. He is not alone in endangering the lives of the women who come to him as patients. And he is not alone in his willingness to kill “unwanted” children – whether or not they are living and breathing outside their mothers’ wombs.

On April 10, 2013 a Delaware Planned Parenthood clinic was forced to close after employees blew the whistle on the conditions in which it was operating. The employees stated that the clinic was “ridiculously unsafe.” Practices included reuse of surgical instruments without cleaning between patients. At least five women have been injured in the past five weeks alone at this clinic.

Currently, the state of Alabama is suing an abortion clinic in Birmingham for operating without proper licensure – this same clinic was shut down a year ago for failure to follow basic health and safety regulations. LLDF continues to work with local Pro-Life advocates to expose the truth about this unsafe clinic.

One of the most shocking revelations of the past few weeks is that leaders in the abortion industry are willing to kill children born alive following attempted abortion. The investigative journalists at Live Action have released new undercover videos showing that Gosnell is far from alone in his callous disregard for human life—even of lives unequivocally protected by law.

The list of abuses from the abortion industry could go on and on.

Even Congress has taken notice: two House Committees have launched nationwide investigations of the “regulatory collapse” that allowed Gosnell to go undetected for decades. These investigations are seeking evidence from other states as to what is being done to ensure such regulatory collapse does not continue to occur.

These investigations are a welcome response from lawmakers. Even  as events of the past few weeks indicate, although Gosnell may have been a step more barbaric than his counterparts throughout the nation (such as snipping babies’ necks and keeping fetal remains—including severed feet— throughout his clinic), his house of horrors at 3801 Lancaster in West Philadelphia is but the tip of the iceberg. The industry itself is built of barbarity, cruelty and disrespect for both women and children.

 

Complimentary Seminar–Active Killing: What the Law Allows

Coming Soon.

Notification of availability of this free course will be sent to our email list. If you are not already on the mail list, please subscribe below, or contact the LLDF office.


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Calling Out The Media!

Life Legal Defense Foundation’s Annual Benefit Dinner

Honoring the Defenders of Life
Saturday, November 17, 2012, 3:30pm (conference) 6:00 pm (dinner)
Our Lady of Peace, Santa Clara, Calif.

This year, the annual Benefit will start with a “mini-conference” at 3:30 p.m. LLDF staff will present an update on active cases and projects. At 5:00 p.m., participants may attend the regularly-scheduled Mass at Our Lady of Peace Church. Dinner will begin at 6:00 p.m. Cost is $60/person. Reservations may be made with LLDF office (707-224-6675).

Keynote Speaker — Julia Holcomb, former fiancée of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler.

Life Legal defends the defenders of life to save innocent lives and prevent women from suffering as Julia Holcomb has. God has used Ms. Holcomb’s tragic experience for good (Romans 8:28).

“I pray that all those who have had abortions or have participated in any way in an abortion procedure may find in my story, not judgment or condemnation, but a renewed hope in God’s steadfast love, forgiveness and peace. Marriage and the family are the building blocks of all virtuous societies. I pray that our nation may find its way back to God’s plan by respecting the life of unborn children and strengthening the sanctity of marriage.” — Julia Holcomb

Please see Julia Holcomb’s Story  

To purchase tickets, visit our donation page: Donate

LLDF Annual Benefit Dinner

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Active Killing: What The Law Allows (Agenda)

11: 30 am
-Doors open; registration (15 min)

11:45 am
-Begin Session I
The common conflicts
     Legalized Killing: A Slippery Slope
Indicators: Assisted Suicide, Euthanasia and De Facto Euthanasia

Strategies and Tactics -
          -Knowing the facts, the client and the opposition.
-Knowing your legal claims, and their statutory basis.
Contacting the Hospital –Hospital ethics committee; potential evidentiary issues

12:45 pm
-Break (15 min)
-Lunch break: please bring your lunch to help defray LLDF’s costs

1:00 pm
-Begin Session II

Filing the Petition
     -use of sample pleadings.
-verification and declarations in support.

Directing the Thinking of the Trier of Fact
     -Preserving evidence and videotaping the patient

Retained Experts

Motion for Judgment

Persuasion, Precedent and Appeals

Explanation of Appendices

Questions and Answers (leave 15 min or so of speaking time)

2:00 pm
-Adjourn

LLDF Benefit To Include Auction Of Fine Art

Life Legal’s Annual Benefit Dinner will include an opportunity to purchase a beautiful still life painting (20×20 oil on canvas) by pro-life speaker, writer and artist, Julia Holcomb.

Artist’s description: “The Word” is a writing-themed still life rich with symbolic imagery suggesting divine inspiration in the Word of God. The red feather quill arching down to caress the page symbolizes the Holy Spirit’s inspiration in sacred scripture. The candle references the light of faith as well as the finite life of the soul, which is extinguished in shadow at death, and yet the viewer is reminded of the life of the illuminated Word of God. A page adorned with a red seal and script is a symbolic image of the soul that is sealed in a covenant of grace.

The painting will be framed in Italian Roma style that includes 23 kt. gold leaf, and will be sold at auction to benefit Life Legal Defense Foundation November 17, 2012. (Minimum bid, $3,000.) Come prepared to enter the bidding, and maybe you will bring this beautiful piece home with you! All proceeds from the auction will go to benefit LLDF’s work to defend life.

Life Legal Defense Foundation would like to thank Julia Holcomb for her generosity both in agreeing to bring her message of life to this year’s benefit, and in sharing her talent in the donation of this lovely painting.

For tickets and more information, visit the Benefit Dinner RSVP Page.

See how LLDF vindicated Pastor Walter Hoye

Defending Free Speech Rights – Continuing Legal Education

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius

Life Legal Defense Foundation is disappointed at the Supreme Court’s decision in NFIB v. Sebelius, rejecting the opportunity to strike down the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

The good news is that none of the religious liberty issues related to anti-life provisions of the Act were decided in Thursday’s ruling. Those issues are yet to be decided, the hope remains that the draconian anti-life provisions of Obamacare will be ruled unconstitutional.

While the Court did not justify the Individual Mandate under the urged expansion of Congressional power pursuant to the Commerce Clause, and while the Court limited the expansion of Medicaid, it ultimately upheld the individual mandate in a strained analysis of the Congressional power to lay and collect taxes. The Court read the mandate not as an order to purchase insurance but as laying a tax on those who do not buy health care insurance. The Court viewed this as a valid exercise of the taxing power. In doing so, the court acknowledged that an estimated 4 million people a year will pay the penalty levied, aka the tax, rather than purchase insurance. Read the opinion.