Kermit Gosnell
Final Exam
Ashley O’Connell
Dr. Howard Kurtz
Sociology of Crime & Violence
02 June 2013
The Kermit Gosnell Case: House of Horrors Kermit Gosnell grew up during the Civil Rights era. He decided to partake in a more radical view and became involved in social and political changes. At the time, everyone stood for a cause; his cause would become the abortion rights movement. Kermit Gosnell was unable to achieve a license as a board certified physician. Therefore, he was neither an obstetrician nor a gynecologist. He faced the barrier of becoming a doctor during a turning point for African Americans. He did not want his failure to become of him and his race. He would later move on to participating in an abortion study where he would eventually find his nitch and a way around the system.
Kermit participated in a human experimental research study in 1973. The study consisted of fifteen poor women entering their second trimester who willingly agreed to have Gosnell perform free abortions on them. The abortions performed had been released on television at the time however, are no longer available. This study would later go down in history as the “Mother’s Day Massacre”. Nine of the fifteen women suffered from complications. Three of the fifteen women would be hospitalized. At the time abortions were performed with a “super coil”. The hot rod would be inserted into a women’s uterus, terminating the pregnancy and damaging her insides.
Gosnell went on to open his own practice; Women’s Medical Society, under the name of another doctor since he was not board certified. An inspection was performed in 1978 and was good until 1979. The last inspection on Gosnell’s clinic would be performed in 1989. The second inspection reported he had no licensed nurses however, the complaint was over looked. His clinic became known to locals as a place to go when no one would help you. Gosnell became a well-respected and loved man in the Pennsylvania
Ashley O’Connell
Dr. Howard Kurtz
Sociology of Crime & Violence
02 June 2013
The Kermit Gosnell Case: House of Horrors Kermit Gosnell grew up during the Civil Rights era. He decided to partake in a more radical view and became involved in social and political changes. At the time, everyone stood for a cause; his cause would become the abortion rights movement. Kermit Gosnell was unable to achieve a license as a board certified physician. Therefore, he was neither an obstetrician nor a gynecologist. He faced the barrier of becoming a doctor during a turning point for African Americans. He did not want his failure to become of him and his race. He would later move on to participating in an abortion study where he would eventually find his nitch and a way around the system.
Kermit participated in a human experimental research study in 1973. The study consisted of fifteen poor women entering their second trimester who willingly agreed to have Gosnell perform free abortions on them. The abortions performed had been released on television at the time however, are no longer available. This study would later go down in history as the “Mother’s Day Massacre”. Nine of the fifteen women suffered from complications. Three of the fifteen women would be hospitalized. At the time abortions were performed with a “super coil”. The hot rod would be inserted into a women’s uterus, terminating the pregnancy and damaging her insides.
Gosnell went on to open his own practice; Women’s Medical Society, under the name of another doctor since he was not board certified. An inspection was performed in 1978 and was good until 1979. The last inspection on Gosnell’s clinic would be performed in 1989. The second inspection reported he had no licensed nurses however, the complaint was over looked. His clinic became known to locals as a place to go when no one would help you. Gosnell became a well-respected and loved man in the Pennsylvania
References: Ablow, Keith, Dr. "Inside the Mind of Dr. Kermit Gosnell." Fox NewsOpinion. FOX NEWS. 14 May 2013. Www.foxnews.com. 14 May 2013. Web. 02 June 2013. <http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/05/14/inside-mind-dr-kermit-gosnell/>. Baier, Brett. "See No Evil: The Kermit Gosnell Case." Fox News Reporting. FOX NEWS. 03 May 2012. Youtube.com. 4 May 2013. Web. 1 June 2013. <http://youtu.be/GJvqAyq43lc>. Doran, Anthony, Psy D. "Kermit Gosnell." Message to the author. 04 June 2013. E-mail. Goldberg, Michelle. "The Twisted Abortion Doctor." The Daily Beast. Newsweek, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 04 June 2013. Siegel, Larry J. "How Criminologists View Crime." Criminology. 11th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012, 2009. 12-651. Print.