A lot of coverage, outside the mainstream media, has been devoted to the story of Dr. Kermit Gosnell and the abattoir he ran in Philadelphia. As we observe the anniversary of a blight on our national honor and a travesty of the judicial process we need to focus more attention on the enablers of this systematic slaughter of innocents.
Gosnell did not happen in a vacuum. A horrible as the situation was (read the Grand Jury report if you can stomach it) it was not an accident or aberration.
Contrary to the bleating of many feminists who are abortion fans this was not the result of restrictions on abortion. Rather, it was the forseeable consequence of the pro-abortion policy of then Governor Tom Ridge.
According to the Grand Jury report:
Under Governor Robert Casey, she said, the department inspected abortion facilities annually. Yet, when Governor Tom Ridge came in, the attorneys interpreted the same regulations that had permitted annual inspections for years to no longer authorize those inspections. Then, only complaint driven inspections supposedly were authorized. Staloski said that DOH’s policy during Governor Ridge’s administration was motivated by a desire not to be “putting a barrier up to women” seeking abortions.
Not only did Ridge stop inspections of abortion “clinics” he tacitly allowed late term abortions to be performed in violation of Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act. In the case of Gosnell, Ridge’s administration was presented with more than ample opportunity to shut him down and refused to do so. Again from the grand jury report:
Indeed, in many ways State had more damning information than anyone else. Almost a decade ago, a former employee of Gosnell presented the Board of Medicine with a complaint that laid out the whole scope of his operation: the unclean, unsterile conditions; the unlicensed workers; the unsupervised sedation; the underage abortion patients; even the over-prescribing of pain pills with high resale value on the street. The department assigned an investigator, whose investigation consisted primarily of an offsite interview with Gosnell. The investigator never inspected the facility, questioned other employees, or reviewed any records. Department attorneys chose to accept this incomplete investigation, and dismissed the complaint as unconfirmed.
Unfortunately, allowing clinics like Gosnell’s to operate were not an anomaly. Abortionists Stephen Chase Brigham and Harvey Walter Brookman also thrived in Pennsylvania under the Ridge administration. Not satisfied with merely allowing illegal abortions, Ridge permitted business to be drummed up for the abortion industry. In 1997 a Planned Parenthood brochure was sent under the postal frank of the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare to all women receiving medical assistance from that department.
In short, neither Gosnell nor Brigham nor Brookman killed women and children in secret, rather they did it with the knowledge and approval of the State of Pennsylvania. When Gosnell finally has his day in court one can only hope that Tom Ridge and some of his key cabinet officials are seated at his side.

Victoria Coates
Daniel Horowitz
While Gosnell and his crew stand trial to finally face their justice
Vassar Bushmills (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 2:10PM EST (link)…I think it is time to make surew those bureaucrats and political factotums who enabled this carnage learn they will not be able to escape it either. Good report and reminder, Strieff
The MSM is staying as far away from this
Deskpilot (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 2:12PM EST (link)as they can. All I have heard is the bsaic facts. VERY LITTLE discussion regarding the contents of the Grand Jury Findings.
This is a tangled web of CRIMINAL ABDICATION of responsibility on so many levels. The unindicted co-sonspirators need to have their status upgraded to enable prosectution.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can still read it in English, You’re Welcome
Deskpilot, AM(H)1 (AW), USN (Ret)
Join the RedState Strike Force
Tom Ridge almost Bush's Veep
chihank Saturday, January 22nd at 2:25PM EST (link)Back in 2000, Tom Ridge was on the short list of Veeps. Bush dropped Ridge when social conservatives strongly objected. I am glad social conservatives made their voices known.
Likewise
bassethound Saturday, January 22nd at 6:10PM EST (link)The media was absolutely cooing over the fact that McCain had been rumored to have picked him. Ridge has been pushed on us for years as being the “model” GOP candidate because he is “moderate”.
My husband always likes to give me a hard time about “which takes priority for you, social conservative or fiscal conservative”. My answer from here on out will be “both or neither”.
Name that party
paulnashtn Saturday, January 22nd at 2:42PM EST (link)I read the entire article and did not see the word “republican” anywhere. It should read Tom Ridge, Republican In Name Only, but if the lame stream media is going to be excoriated for failing to “name that party” for their side, the same should be true here
the difference is
streiff (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 2:55PM EST (link)that I’m assuming my readers are bright enough to know who Tom Ridge is.
For future reference, don’t pull this chicken**** stunt again.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
Well, I don't think it's chicken****
heartlander (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 4:01PM EST (link)I have no idea who paulnashtn is — maybe he’s a troll, for all I know — but he makes what I, a committed conservative, think is a VERY good point.
Yes, the Dems have a party platform identical to that of the Communist Party USA. And it’s true that Obama has been thick-as-thieves with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright and Tony Rezko. And I don’t doubt that the ideological heads of the Democrat party, if not their dupes, the voters, are following the Cloward-Piven strategy with the goal of DELIBERATELY “taking down the United States,” as George Soros so sweetly boasts.
BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT.
If we are really honest, you must admit, we would not be in the mess we’re in now if the GOP were not infested with a bunch of spineless, sell-out weenies. Not to mention outright sleazos like Tom Ridge.
I say, CALL ‘EM OUT!
Let them know that We the People are watching their every move. Let them know we won’t be fooled again.
Do they prove themselves as warriors on our behalf — or as weasels looking out for their “dance cards” at the Georgetown cocktail parties?
We need more men like this one.
WE DEMAND WARRIORS, NOT WEASELS!
“The still, small voice of God in every human soul is the greatest ally of the pro-life cause, and why it will ultimately prevail.”
–Donald R. McClarey
not to put too fine a point on it
streiff (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 4:08PM EST (link)your point and his is silly.
If you don’t know who Tom Ridge is that’s your problem not mine.
A “committed conservative” by now would have figured out this is a conservative website, not a newspaper blog, and the readers, at least those not coming out of comas lasting more than a decade, are fairly aware of the party affiliation of people who were VP contenders in 2008
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
I'm with you on this one, Streiff;
rickbull Saturday, January 22nd at 5:51PM EST (link)Someone would have had to have lived under a rock for the past decade not to know that Ridge was a Republican. He was, after all, the first Secretary of Homeland Security. In contrast, I remember first reading about Elliot Spitzer’s whoremongering affair, and, not being from New York, had no reason to know who Spitzer was. I had to read 5 separate articles on Spitzer’s escapades before any one of the reporters mentioned that he was a democrat–and it was practically a footnote to the article.
Not to mention the fact that we don’t attack democrats who are pro-abortion–we simply assume that they are. If you ever see a post on RS that lauds someone for being pro-life, the subject is probably a democrat.
WE ARE THE 53% (who actually pay taxes).
See, I knew Spitzer was a Dem because of who he attacked when he was AG.
SoulEspresso Sunday, January 23rd at 12:22AM EST (link)For example, I saw him on Colbert back when I was watching that garbage.
Longtime readers of RS should know who Tom Ridge is, but a lot of lurkers wouldn’t necessarily. So it’s good to bring it up.
A double horror
ss396 Saturday, January 22nd at 2:43PM EST (link)The Grand Jury report is a horror story; sickening beyond belief and nearly beyond description. And we have always known that the story of Kermit Gosnell is the only possible outcome to legalized abortion-on-demand.
What equally appalls me about the Grand Jury report is that, for all of the outrage and criminality that it documents and presents in such detail, the document reads very much as manual of “How Not to Perform Abortions.”
It leaves the underlying premise of abortions intact.
Yes, I understand that the Grand Jury probably could not discuss the basic issue of abortion; that such a discussion was likely beyond their investigative charter. But this report has to be presented and regarded and broadcast as more than merely a report of criminally bad outcomes to procedural misconduct. Unless it is, and no matter what the State of Pennsylvania does, the horror continues.
If you pay someone to sit on his butt, you can’t be surprised when he does.
Who needs a Manual
Superheater (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 2:50PM EST (link)To say “Don’t- its a violation of the Hippocratic
Oath”?
Real doctors aren’t butchers.
Please read Bernard Nathanson's books
heartlander (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 4:12PM EST (link)Dr. Nathanson was one of the prime activists in pushing for the legalization of abortion back in the early ’70s. He ran THE largest abortion clinic in the world, in New York City. He presided over the deaths of some 60,000 babies.
After ultrasound showed the reality of abortion too graphically to be denied anymore, he quit, and became a very committed — and extremely brilliant and articulate — pro-life advocate.
He wrote a book, Aborting America, in which he told the REAL story — how he and other activists had lied about the numbers of back-alley fatalities in order to win sympathy; how most of the doctors who went into the abortion business were losers who couldn’t make it in REAL medical practice, or were outright perverts who ENJOYED it. Gosnell appears to fit both categories.
Nathanson is a searingly, scathingly, unstintingly honest man. It is HARD to face what you’ve done — thousands of babies butchered, pushing an abortion regime that has profoundly altered the very character of our civilization. But he is 100 percent honest. Read his book and you will learn a LOT about the REAL dynamic of the abortion movement, and the abortion industry.
And don’t miss his later book, The Hand of God, which was written — after decades as one of the very few atheist pro-lifers — when he accepted Christ’s forgiveness and was preparing to be baptized as a Catholic. It will MOVE you tremendously. I promise.
“The still, small voice of God in every human soul is the greatest ally of the pro-life cause, and why it will ultimately prevail.”
–Donald R. McClarey
And...
heartlander (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 4:14PM EST (link)I’m willing to bet that Dr. Nathanson, while saddened and disgusted, is probably not a bit surprised by the Philadelphia horror.
“The still, small voice of God in every human soul is the greatest ally of the pro-life cause, and why it will ultimately prevail.”
–Donald R. McClarey
I missed Nathanson's first book
bassethound Saturday, January 22nd at 6:16PM EST (link)but read “Hand of God”. It’s a very difficult read, emotionally. Likewise for Carol Everett’s book “Blood Money”.
Tom Ridge: Colossal Disaster, but don't forget..(Rudy Fans-Pay Attention)
Superheater (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 2:48PM EST (link)Tom Ridge was largely a popular disaster as Governor. He translated his military service and record as an Erie County Asst DA into a Congressional Seat, to two successful gubernatorial elections.
As I recall he signed off on a pension bill that utilized a then existent surplus to increase pensions (primarily for the legislature, but extended to rank and file employees to get “buy in”)
However, in addition to this, he ended up getting into a pi**ing contest with the PA State Police union, and our “finest” when on a ticket strike, to show him who was boss. He buckled when ticket revenue when down. These are the same PSP that routinely have an officer dedicated to PFAs solemnly intoning the public to slow down while routinely traveling in excess of the speed limit. (Who polices the police?) Of course, another “officer” was the chauffeur for Ed Rendell when he was known travel in excess of 90mph.
That having been said Ed Rendell bears some responsibility for this situation. He had a chance to fix this, and surely the former mayor of Philadelphia should be concerned with such a predator “operating” on residents of his former city.
Rendell
streiff (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 2:58PM EST (link)certainly has a lot of culpability in this. He, however, is a Dem and we’ve learned to expect they will gleefully kill babies. My goal here is to make sure we never hear Ridge mentioned for any position of responsibility in the GOP again.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
Amen -- and not only Ridge, but....
heartlander (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 4:17PM EST (link)….as you indicate in your subject line, no Rudy and, for that matter, NOBODY who is not 100 percent committed to removing this blight from our country.
“The still, small voice of God in every human soul is the greatest ally of the pro-life cause, and why it will ultimately prevail.”
–Donald R. McClarey
Rudy is a disgrace for a "conservative"
H (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 6:03PM EST (link)I remember Sean Hannity in 2004 going after a Catholic priest on his TV show by insinuating he condoned child molestation when the priest pointed out Giuliani’s horrific pro-abortion record. Hannity was as vicious and obnoxious as any Keith Olbermann type out there. Since that time Hannity stopped identifying himself as a Catholic, simply making vague statements about being a “Christian” when it fits the occasion.
One thing I love about RedState, there is no love for talking head conservative “personalities” clogging up the dialogue. There is a good sense of who’s sincere and who’s in it for the money and recognition.
Hannity
Superheater (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 7:25PM EST (link)I don’t know what’s in his head or heart, but I remember that episode. It turned me off, as to quote an old saying my grandmother had “its a bad bird that poops in its own nest”. His show is dependent on POLITICAL guests, not religious ones.
I have no ax to grind with the LDS folks, but I’ve heard him say stuff like there’s only a small difference between his beliefs and theirs-but no Trinitarian Christian says that unless they are ignorant or engaging in syncretism. I’m not sure what would be worse.
Sean gives Rudy a platform, Rudy gives Sean a platform.
The Only Reason I Mention Rendell..
Superheater (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 7:15PM EST (link)Is that he comes off as sort of an “amiable” opponent. You know he’s a strident leftist, committed to the normal social things, but seems to have the ability to get himself on shows like Hannity’s.
Push his buttons enough, like Leslie Stahl did and the recovering cheese steak glutton shows his true self, a snarling maniac spewing contempt for people who disagree with him.
Ridge indeed allowed many babies to be murdered......
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 3:05PM EST (link)because he didn’t want to cross the pro-death movement and the women who would argue that inspection would deter woman from killing their babies would be the same women who lied about coat hangers and back alleys…hell this house of horrors is worst then a back alley because these are “professionals” giving the impression of being something more then the creep in the alley (like Goebbels telling a lie over and over, that was ALWAYS a lie too).
Tom Ridge ought to be ashamed of himself but like all progressive elites he will not be.
Unified Patriots – How-To:
Activists Taking Action
Progressive Republicans
minorcanmaven (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 3:53PM EST (link)Progressive Republicans – I hope we make that term an oxymoron in the 2012 elections. These creatures have slowly done as much or maybe even MORE damage as the socialist Democrats.
Tom Ridge…grrr.
Minorcan Maven
Freedom isn’t Free ~ But, It’s WORTH It!!
55555 -- nt
heartlander (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 4:18PM EST (link)“The still, small voice of God in every human soul is the greatest ally of the pro-life cause, and why it will ultimately prevail.”
–Donald R. McClarey
?
minorcanmaven (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 4:30PM EST (link)I’m sorry, I don’t follow you?
Minorcan Maven
Freedom isn’t Free ~ But, It’s WORTH It!!
minorcanmaven, the multiple fives means the poster....
penguin2 (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 5:18PM EST (link)is in strong agreement with your comment. Meant to be complimentary.
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. – Benjamin Franklin
When Good stands up to Evil, Evil blinks. – Vassar Bushmills
Conservative Education: Suggested Reading List
Activists Taking Action: Unified Patriots
I can be slow to catch on! :)
minorcanmaven (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 5:32PM EST (link)Thanks for the tip!!
Minorcan Maven
Freedom isn’t Free ~ But, It’s WORTH It!!
I'd rather change the meaning of the term.
jeffreywturner (Diary) Sunday, January 23rd at 1:36PM EST (link)I like to think of myself as “progressive”.
For instance, I think overturning Roe would be progress.
I think a constitutional amendment clarifying that personhood begins at conception would be progress.
Therefore, since I want these things, which are “progress”, that should make me a “progressive”.
The problem is that we have let the secular liberals stake the claim that the only things representing “progress” are things that move us towards socialism / secularism.
“Life is too short, can’t we all just eat pork and kill some terrorists?”
"safe and legal"
earlgrey (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 4:53PM EST (link)Isnt’ that one of the reasons given for keeping abortions legal — so we can make sure it is done safely.
The same reasons people give for letting their kids drink and have sez at their homes. They are going to do it anyway so, so we’d rather they be safe.
I think this is far worse than the Bernie Madoff scandal (IMHO), but this and other conservative sites are the only ones talking about it.
That's because the liberals don't have a problem with it -nt-
rickbull Saturday, January 22nd at 6:00PM EST (link)WE ARE THE 53% (who actually pay taxes).
With disdain I remember Ridge slobbering
johnt Saturday, January 22nd at 5:30PM EST (link)about is family at the DHS appointment, how much he loved them and all that pap you don’t need to know at what is really a wartime job. The buffoon actually started to cry, ugh!
Then there was the nut who drove a tractor into the DC pond and was there for two days. To hear Ridge tell it, they had captured Bin Laden, much satisfied lip smacking. A horse’s ass, a true “moderate”.
“a man’s admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him”. Tocqueville
Tragic
pirate55 (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 6:10PM EST (link)…that when society “normally” learns of law enforcement’s uncovering of a serial murderer, it becomes a media event, “fast and furious”. Normally, because this particular case defies normalcy, the typical scapegoat becomes law enforcement citing its’ failure to uncover the serial murderer faster in order that more lives could have been saved.
Yet, a serial murderer in Pennsylvania is uncovered sometime last year, and it is not brought before the public consciousness until now. Oh, I suppose the grand jury had to cross the t’s and dot the i’s, particularly until after the November elections. And now one is left to wonder who will be scapegoated here? I’m sure it will occur.
Political as well as inspection culpability is probably widespread over a significant period of time in which there were both Republican as well as Democratic leaders in the State of Pennsylvania. Wake up everyone. A serial murderer was left to commit crimes in which human beings were murdered and the unbelievable part of this is serial murderers normally act alone and are secretive.
How can a serial murderer operate for so long and even be assisted in his crimes by those he employed? How can a media relegate these murders to small paragraphs in the news?
The main question is and will continue to be, How can we as a civilized society ignore this?
Rep. James Lankford: "The Right to Life is Self-Evident"
izoneguy (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 7:35PM EST (link)Rep. James Lankford: “The Right to Life is Self-Evident”
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
Rep. James Lankford: "The Right to Life is Self-Evident"
izoneguy (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 7:36PM EST (link)Hmmm, YouTube imbeds are funked out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CdTnKWury0
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
Rick Santorum Calls Obama’s Abortion Stance ‘Remarkable For A Black Man'
izoneguy (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 8:22PM EST (link)Rick Santorum Calls Obama’s Abortion Stance ‘Remarkable For A Black Man’
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/rick-santorum-obama-abortion-stance-remarkable-for-a-black-man/comments/page/3/
“For decades certain human beings were wrongly treated as property and denied liberty in America because they were not considered persons under the constitution,” he said in a statement. “Today other human beings, the unborn of all races, are also wrongly treated as property and denied the right to life for the same reason; because they are not considered persons under the constitution. I am disappointed that President Obama, who rightfully fights for civil rights, refuses to recognize the civil rights of the unborn in this country.”
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
and the libs called Santorum a racist for this remark.
rickbull Saturday, January 22nd at 9:04PM EST (link)Because they could not or would not recognize the context in which it was said. The only part of the interview they heard was “remarkable for a black man.” I read close to one hundred blog comments on this interview, and not one of them was able to make the connection between the unborn slaughter that occurs in this country every day and the status of black people at the time of the drafting of our Constitution.
It is truly amazing how liberals can be so vacuous.
WE ARE THE 53% (who actually pay taxes).
You pretty much have to be vacuous to be a liberal
izoneguy (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 11:18PM EST (link)And if you are a liberal you are pretty much vacuous. It goes with the territory.
Conservative Republicans do not fear the “racist” label anymore. It means nothing. Now RINO’s will be afraid of the racist label.
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
Reminds me of one of my favorite blog quotes:
rickbull Sunday, January 23rd at 1:20AM EST (link)When Jimmy Carter was accusing the Tea Party of being racist because they opposed Obama’s policies:
“The same racists didn’t like Carter either–is incompetence a race?” Philoernie of Florida
WE ARE THE 53% (who actually pay taxes).
It isn't vacuity.
SoulEspresso Sunday, January 23rd at 12:44AM EST (link)It’s deliberate ignorance, chosen ignorance.
Yes, I believe it was Saint Ronald who said it best:
rickbull Sunday, January 23rd at 1:16AM EST (link)“…they know so much that isn’t so.”
WE ARE THE 53% (who actually pay taxes).
I'm glad the Grand Jury report named names.
Uma Richie (Diary) Saturday, January 22nd at 11:39PM EST (link)Via a google search, I found that unindicted co-conspirator Janice Staloski retired from the PA Dept of Health six weeks after the prescription drug raid that revealed the horrors of the Gosnell “clinic”. Coincidence?
I’m still looking for news on unindicted co-conspirator Darlene Augustine.
Source:
http://www.paproviders.org/Pages/PN_Archive/PN_042010.pdf and then use your Find function on the word “Janice”
Even the NYT's is on this - Squalid Abortion Clinic Escaped State Oversight
izoneguy (Diary) Sunday, January 23rd at 10:30AM EST (link)Squalid Abortion Clinic Escaped State Oversight
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/us/23doctor.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
How does a butcher like this even get malpractice insurance?
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
Welfare vs Morality
dianecee Sunday, January 23rd at 12:14PM EST (link)We can all point fingers at those who are involved in this particular case, but maybe we need to expose the real reason why there are hundreds of abortion clinics across our nation doing exacty the same thing. When these young girls are 16, their grandmothers tell them that welfare will end soon if they don’t reproduce before 18. The democratic party has grown a small problem into a holy nightmare,,,,,all for the sake of a dumbed down voter base. Pavlov’s dog was recreated and the experiment has been performed on black Americans.
Let’s talk about the woman in this case who had FOUR miscarriages and a venereal disease AFTER having that abortion. Obviously, the abortion clinics are churning out death because we can not feed, house, medicate and educate millions of neglected children that would be running around town, otherwise. Maybe the programs that support all of the tax consumers should be ended. A little tough love will go a long way. Let’s help bring the inner city trolls into the new century.
Well done Streiff
thirdshock Monday, January 24th at 3:52PM EST (link)I could not agree with you more. To the fullest extent of the law…the fullest extent of the law. Ridge is as responsible for this as the doctor is. We slumped to a new low thirty years ago. A low that we, as a country, will be held accountable for, by a power much “lofter” than any court in this land.
Best,
thirdshock